Despite the Asian currency crisis, a University of Queensland company has secured a substantial Malaysian Government grant for a collaborative project between the two countries.
The University's technology transfer company UniQuest Ltd and the University's Technology Management Centre have negotiated the grant to mass produce a new prototype antenna developed by University of Queensland researchers, for European and Asian markets.
The 2cm thick flat antenna is capable of replacing larger dish antennas like those currently in use for Australian, US, and European Pay TV. The design can be extended to make this antenna multipurpose, with potential for fitting systems to commercial aircraft for live inflight pay TV systems.
The Malaysian Government has awarded a 1.7 million ringitt (about A$700,000) industrial R&D grant to multinational joint venture company Global Technology and Innovation Management (GTIM) for the project.
GTIM is a joint venture launched last year between UniQuest and the commercial arm of the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM).
The company was established to link the University of Queensland with a rising university in the region, to promote technologies and develop a collaborative international technology management program.
It was set up following extensive negotiations by the University of Queensland's Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Paul Greenfield, Associate Professor in the University's Technology Management Centre Shantha Liyanage and UniQuest General Manager, Operations Ian Crebbin.
Mr Crebbin and UniQuest Business Development Manager Jack Hennessy negotiated the new collaborative Malaysian Government grant.
Mr Crebbin said given the current situation in Asian economies, the grant was a 'good effort' and would cover the first project phase.
'The project will benefit both UTM and the University of Queensland,' he said.
'UTM will receive benefits from training researchers in using new technologies which are close to the market place.
'The benefit to the University of Queensland is that a substantial amount of the grant will flow back here, plus a share of any commercial proceeds when we successfully start manufacturing the new flat antennas.'
GTIM will work with a Malaysian company Locus Point SDN.BHD to manufacture and sell the prototype developed by the Wireless Communications Group in the University of Queensland's Computer Science and Electrical Engineering Department.
Associate Professor Marek Bialkowski and PhD student Paul Davis are co-inventors of the Flat Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) antenna involved in the project.
Dr Bialkowski said the DBS antenna had many advantages over conventional parabolic dish antennas.
'It's slim, creating low visual pollution, does not accumulate dust, snow or rain. It is fed from its rear, giving good protection for a low noise downconverter.
'It is very cheap to manufacture, due to its planar format and through the use of plastic that forms the main body of this antenna.'
The antenna system, known as a Radial Line Slot Array (RLSA) is robust, and matches the performance of large dish antennas.
Dr Bialkowski said the group had further refined the antenna with an invention to improve its operation and UniQuest had initiated patent protection.
For further information, contact Mr Crebbin, telephone 07 3365 4016 or Dr Bialkowski, email: EMEbialko@ntu.edu.sg
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