ANZSCoS 2013

From 21 – 23 August 2013, I attended the 2013 Annual Scientific Meeting of Australian and New Zealand Spinal Cord Society (ANZSCoS). The theme of the ANZSCoS 2013 ASM was “New Solutions in a Changing World”. This was a topic that encompassed all aspects of the spinal cord impairment (paraplegia and tetraplegia) industry, and brought together delegates from all different segments.

It was great to catch up with old friends such as the Australian Quadriplegic Association (AQA) and the Austin Health Victoria and meet new friends, such as the Princess Alexandra Hospital Brisbane. I enjoyed meeting the OTs over dinner. They told me about their jobs and I told them about and showed them pictures of the arm.

I particularly enjoyed Dr Trevor Russell’s keynote on tele rehabilitation, John Walsh’s presentation on his work with the NDIS, the individuals who shared their stories about managing their disabilities, and the OTs who had done research posters on using smartphone and common technologies to help manage disabilities.

It was insightful to learn so many new ideas in the disabilities space all at once.

Learn more about ANZSCoS at their website: http://www.dcconferences.com.au/anzscos2013/

Day 1 in the new office

This week in the 2Mar world, on 2 July, we moved into the Melbourne Accelerator Program offices at the University of Melbourne. On our first day of moving into the offices, we had our arm do a victory dance (of sorts). Note that it’s being controlled by an iPad! Check it out here.

We were so excited when we had our arm do that. We were like, “let’s put this on Facebook. It will totally go viral!” It didn’t. But we still think it’s awesome. 🙂

Melbourne Accelerator Program

On Monday the 1st of July, the 2Mar team attended the Melbourne Accelerator Program (MAP) Launch Night. This night is designed to allow the teams accepted into MAP to deliver a short introductory pitch about their projects, hear from last year’s cohort as well as a networking opportunity. We started the night with a brief introduction from members of the executive board of MAP. They expressed their support for the entrepreneurial community in Australia and gave some wise words about how they succeeded. Then came the updates from the 2012 cohort, who showcased their successes in their ventures. Last year there were 4 groups chosen:

  1. VenueMob – A venue booking system which allows the user to access hundred of venues to book for functions.
  2. Remote Area Power System – Aimed at increasing efficiency of transmission of power to electrical equipment within buildings.
  3. UniSquare.me – A next generation social system aimed for university students.
  4. 121cast –  An application which personalises radio systems which can read the weather, email, calendar and play music to you.

These projects really expressed how creative and innovative Australians can be.


The current projects are:

  1. The Price Geek – a price comparison search engine.
  2. Ebla – a search engine for legal documents.
  3. Client Catalyst – mobile marketing monitoring system.
  4. SwatchMate – accurate colour matching.
  5. 2Mar Robotics – (Us!)
  6. Cortera Neurotechnologies – small implantable neural scanning device for those that suffer neural diseases.

After an hour of presentations, we adjourned to ferociously chow down on the food provided and to network!

For the video on the whole night, check out this YouTube video!