Innovation and a thick skin wins out for top science award Thursday, 16 June 2016

Hearing aids are not all the same, despite claims to the contrary, and price is no longer a good indicator of quality. This is a message from Dr Elaine Saunders (pictured above), who received Australia’s top honour for leading visionaries, an ATSE Clunies Ross Award in the Entrepreneur of the Year Category.

The award recognises her successful disruption of hearing service provision in Australia. Dr Saunders has made premium hearing aids more accessible by challenging business and pricing models.

Dr Saunders, working with other hearing aid researchers including Professors Peter Blamey and Graeme Clarke – both also winners of Clunies Ross Awards – has made it her life purpose to make high quality hearing aids more accessible for more people.

“I am proud to say I’ve helped develop a world-leading, award-winning, cost-saving hearing aid system in conjunction with a world leading telehealth service. If adopted as industry standard, the system could reduce the cost of hearing health care by approximately 70 percent,” she said.

“Good hearing aid technologies result from good research. Australia has contributed significantly to international hearing aid development. However, it takes entrepreneurship and a thick skin to get more innovation in health research and delivery,” said Dr Saunders.

Her commitment to accessible hearing care is evidenced by the industry’s resentment of her efforts, which she feels is more than offset by the appreciation of clients who might otherwise be unable to access services. The direct economic impact of her technology is great, but dwarfed by the huge indirect economic and social benefits that stem from the reduced burden of hearing loss.

“Much in health care is ripe for innovation, partly in order to manage spiralling costs. It's important that we develop new models of care that are not digital copies of traditional models, but that use technologies and skills to help people who are able to help themselves,” she concluded.

Another ATSE Clunies Ross Award winner is Professor Peter Murphy, from University of South Australia, in the Innovation Category. Professor Murphy developed the world's first plastic automotive rear view mirror which to date has seen more than 1.5 million mirror assemblies manufactured in Adelaide and exported to the USA.

The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) is an independent body of 800 eminent Australian scientists and engineers. The ATSE Awards have been running since 1991.

Don't forget to register for the Australian Engineering Conference 2016 in Brisbane on November 23-25.