Following a national Expression of Interest round, NERA is pleased to reveal the four Australian energy technology innovators as part of the second stage of its global technology exchange program that is connecting Australian tech pioneers with global energy leaders and supply chains.

The companies taking part are Cumulus Projects, Frontier Automation, iSOL8 and Mapizy, who each represent innovative technology products and solutions for Australia’s energy resources sector.

Now, through the global exchange program that has been developed by NERA in collaboration with The Oil and Gas Technology Centre (OGTC) and Station Houston, these companies will join NERA on a 10-day tour to Aberdeen and SPE Offshore Europe Conference & Exhibition in September to take their technology global by building international relationships and forging valuable supply chain connections.

The tour to Aberdeen and SPE Offshore forms the second of the three-stage energy technology tour connecting the global energy hubs of Perth, Houston and Aberdeen, which has already seen four Australian tech innovators showcase their technology at the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston — one of the world’s largest oil and gas conferences.

The four Australian tech innovators will be joined by their counterparts in Aberdeen and will together take part in a curated program of networking events and meetings with leaders from industry, academia, government and global energy technology ecosystems at and around the SPE Offshore Conference and Exhibition.

Miranda Taylor, NERA CEO, said the success of the tour to Houston alone demonstrates the enormous multiplier effects that can be achieved by connecting local energy innovators with global supply chain opportunities.

“One part of NERA’s role as the Industry Growth Centre for Australia’s energy resources sector is to support innovative, smart innovators get that global foot in the door.”

“We have some leading technologies and solutions right here and, through initiatives like this, we can share these industry solutions with the rest of the world and make their growth stories happen,” said Ms Taylor.

As part of the global tech tour’s next stop at SPE Offshore Europe, NERA is coordinating the WA pavilion at the event on behalf of the WA Premier’s LNG Taskforce participants, celebrating and showcasing WA as a global energy hub.

Following the tour to Aberdeen, a selection of innovative innovators from the OGTC will join NERA in Perth in March 2020, for the Australasian Oil and Gas Conference, marking the final leg of the international journey.

Ms Taylor said that NERA hopes to build on this momentum and success of the tech tour program, potentially adding more global partners, and continue to create opportunities for local innovators to connect with international markets and showcase their innovative solutions on a global stage.

“NERA looks forward to continuing to bring together global energy hubs and create lasting connections for growth, not just for the benefit of Australia, but for the benefit for the global energy resources ecosystem as a whole.”

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Meet the energy tech tour participants

The selected participants are:

Cumulus Projects, who offer a digital twin ecosystem for the connected worker of tomorrow: field technicians, engineers and managers. Cumulus brings together stranded, siloed data from all conceivable sources, from legacy enterprise systems to emergent deliverable files types, and makes it easily accessible to all users at the right time. The result is improved efficiency and increased safety.

Frontier Automation, who have developed a fully automated movement measurement tracking tool for vessel operations near a facility or port. High-speed 3D machine vision sensors provide full vessel coverage with real-time reporting (including automated alarms) on vessel approach or departure speed and distance, as well as drift detection and measurement whilst moored, to enhance awareness of vessel movements, facilitate safe loading, unloading or other operations within acceptable vessel dynamic conditions, and eliminate the need for personnel to enter hazardous areas to perform mooring/drift checks.

iSOL8, who offer an automated safety system for isolation processes that guides workers through isolation by using mobile devices, NFC technology and leveraging isolation information alread­y stored in smart drawings or digital twins. iSOL8 uses the Internet of Things and blockchain to automate the isolation process to eliminate paperwork, improve safety, save time, increase plant availability, reduce risk and provide real time data for business analysis.

Mapizy, who focus on quantifying the changing planet through image data and artificial intelligence (AI). The deep tech company uses remotely sensed image and video data from satellite, drone, terrestrial and underwater platforms, to make sense of multi-source image data to detect pattern of changes, derive geospatial analytics and predict future events.

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For Steven Cocks, Founder of Cumulus Projects, the tour to Aberdeen will be a chance to build on the connections and learnings he made as part of NERA’s energy tech tour to Houston in May 2019.

“Participation in NERA’s previous tech tour to OTC in Houston provided Cumulus Projects the unprecedented opportunity to debut our technology to a global audience. We look forward to representing the capability of emerging Australian oil and gas tech companies. Offshore Europe will help us engage a new audience in the oil and gas capital of Aberdeen and beyond,” said Mr Cocks.

­­­­For Mapizy, Frontier Automation and iSOL8, joining NERA’s tour to Offshore Europe Aberdeen and associated program presents an invaluable opportunity to create global connections for growth and expand their business reach.

Jochen Franke, Founder and Managing Director of Frontier Automation, said that the tour will provide an opportunity to expand their business development horizon: “We are confident this event will be invaluable to fast-track our business growth.”

iSOL8 Managing Director, Craig Power, said joining the tour is a fantastic opportunity for iSOL8. “We will use the opportunity to discover and compare isolation management systems, set up further trials of the system and pursue commercial opportunities.”

Mapizy Director, Mehdi Ravanbakhsh, the tour to Aberdeen will open avenues to connect with leading companies and renowned professionals and share their AI solution. “We are delighted to join NERA’s tour … we will use the experience to expand into major innovation hubs in Europe and explore opportunities with leading organisations in the energy sector.”

Follow NERA’s social channels for details surrounding the upcoming tech tour to Aberdeen.