A week before fifty cyclists set off from Brisbane to Townsville on the annual 1600 km cancer fundraiser, the Smiling For Smiddy Challenge, a documentary about the cause is set to screen on Win Television.

The documentary – Smiling for Smiddy The Long Road – is set to air on WIN television throughout Queensland on Sunday 28 August at 2pm.

This inspiring film is narrated by Maria, the mother of Adam Smiddy, a young man who died of Melanoma Cancer in 2006 at the age of just 26 in who’s memory the ride and the charity was founded.

Through “The Long Road”, Maria tells not only of her own powerful story of losing her son but also the unforgettable legacy created by his friends to ensure Adam is never forgotten and that a cure is found for this insidious disease.

Smiling for Smiddy was created by Adam’s close friend and coach, Mark Smoothy, soon after Adam’s death when he took to his bicycle with two friends to undertake the first Smiddy ride raising $26,000.  Each year the number of riders and road crew has grown, along with the number of people donating to the charity and the money raised. Adam, a physiotherapist and triathlon coach at the University of Queensland was passionate about and would have loved the challenge created in his name. To date the charity has raised over 1.9 million dollars.

All the money raised from the challenges help fund ongoing world-class cancer research and health care through the Mater Foundation.

Documentary producer, Ryan Early, from Reflected Image PRoductions led a crew of four who followed the 5^th annual Smiling for Smiddy Challenge, a gruelling eight-day 1600km bicycle ride by 60 cyclists from Brisbane to Townsville in September.

“This is the second documentary we have made about this amazing group of people, but this year I wanted to capture the intensely personal journey that this challenge is for everyone involved,” Ryan said.

The Long Road also features a segment covering the annual Midi Smiddy ride, a bicycyle ride each June that covers 570 kilometres from Brisbane to Toowoomba, Warwick and back.

“I heard Maria speak on the Midi Smiddy and the room fell silent, so I knew that she was the perfect choice to help tell this story,” Ryan said.

The first documentary, Smiling for Smiddy: A Journey of Friends was created during the 2009 ride and won Best Documentary at the 2010 Queensland Multi Media Awards after airing on Win Television in December 2009 where it won the ratings for its timeslot.

“The documentaries are a vital device in raising awareness of the Smiddy cause. Following the airing of the documentary on WIN, a special directors cut was shown at special screenings along the Smiddy Challenge route helping significantly with the Smiling for Smiddy fundraising efforts, which now total over $1.9 million since the rides began in 2006,” Ryan said.

We called this years documentary the Long Road because the charity has achieved a lot in it’s time and also because of the strong bonds created between the riders and the volunteers in the many towns they ride through. The connection between all of these towns has been that many people in them have been affected by cancer.

So gear up for this year’s Smiling for Smiddy challenge by watching the documentary on Sunday 28 August at 2pm on Win.  Then support the riders as they once again hit the road:

• Day One – 3 September – 212km Brisbane – Blackbutt – Nanango
• Day Two – 4 September – 242km Nanango – Gayndah – Eidsvold
• Day Three – 5 September – 200km Eidsvold – Biloela
• Day Four – 6 September – 205km Biloela – Blackwater
• Day Five – 7 September – 181km Blackwater – Emerald – Clermont
• Day Six – 8 September – 175km Clermont – Belyando Crossing
• Day Seven – 9 September – 202km Belyando Crossing – Charters Towers
• Day Eight – 10 September – 179km Charters Towers – Townsville

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgvJ09dJOsc&sns=em[/youtube]

A University of the Sunshine Coast golf buggy will soon be powered by wind and sun thanks to a new joint initiative with Auzion Solar Power.

Auzion, a leading Queensland renewable energy company based at the University of the Sunshine Coast’s Innovation Centre, have partnered with the University’s Faculty of Science, Health and Education in an exciting new project.

In the next couple of months, Auzion will be installing an off-grid solar panel system on the USC Engineering building to be used as a teaching resource for students. The solar power system will also help power the department’s golf buggy.

Auzion CEO, Mark Leckenby said Auzion had always maintained a strong link with the University as a way to show our commitment to education, sustainability and regional development.

“We have done research projects with the university in the past and are excited about this new project which will benefit future students and also present our team with a new and exciting challenge, as it will be Auzion’s first installation of a stand alone system not connected to the grid,” Mark said.

“As a gift to the project, we have facilitated the donation of four solar panels from Sanyo, rated in the top two most efficient panels in the world and Auzion will be donating a 1kW wind turbine to be installed on the University’s water tower,” Mark said.

“The wine turbine and solar panels will work together to charge batteries that will then be used to power the golf buggy,” Mark said.

The idea for the project came about when Mark toured the University’s new Engineering and Science Training Facility in July and was introduced to the facilities practical research and training capabilities.

“It was great to see such ‘cutting-edge’ and innovative work being performed at the University,” Mark said.

“The project will create new opportunities for future research and development at the new facility, giving USC students ‘an edge’ when entering the competitive work force,” Mark said.

USC’s Faculty of Science, Health and Education’s Technical Services manager Dr Denis Podger said it was exciting to be using a combination of wind and solar energy to charge the faculty’s golf buggy, as well as laptop computers used by Civil Engineering students.

“This will provide a very good resource for teaching students about renewable energy technology,” he said.

“It is very hands-on and the students can access every aspect of it, from data taking and battery maintenance, to understanding the difference in loads from different power sources and how these loads need to be balanced.”

The project will build on Auzion’s already valuable working partnership with the University and follows a number of successful projects together.

“We are really looking forward to test-driving the Sunshine Coast’s first golf kart to be powered by the sun and wind and to continue to work closely with the University of the Sunshine Coast,” Mark said.

For more information about Auzion and its energy solution products, visit www.auzion.com or call 1300 AUZION.

Celebrate spring at Corbould Park Racecourse on Sunday, 25 September at the Bloomhill Race Day.

The 9^th annual Race Day will be held at Corbould Park Racecourse in Caloundra and, as always, will be filled with fashion, fun, a full race schedule and lots of prizes.

Tickets are expected to sell out so be sure to buy yours now to be a part of this major fundraising event for Bloomhill Cancer Help.

The Bloomhill Race Day coordinator, Gail Lamb said tickets to the event have sold out every year and there are only a few opportunities left for business sponsorship.

“Being a business sponsor is a great way to support Bloomhill’s work in the community,” Gail said.

“We are so grateful for the incredible support and generosity we have received from our Race Day Sponsors. They have played a big part in making this day a success,” Gail said.

Tickets to the event start from $65 for entry to the Champagne Gardens and $90 per person or $900 per table in the Favourites Room.

In the Champagne Gardens, you will enjoy a sumptuous buffet lunch as you enjoy the race day activities. From the Favourites Room, you will be treated with champagne on arrival, delicious luncheon and panoramic views of the racetrack.

“Bloomhill Race Day is a great excuse to catch up with friends while supporting this worthy cause,” Gail said.

“This event is always a fabulous day with lots of prizes, a chance to bid in the memorabilia auction and Fashions on the Field,” Gail said.

Bloomhill Cancer Help is a not for profit organisation and relies on donations and fundraising through events such as the Bloomhill Race Day. Continued support will ensure they can continue offering support to those affected by cancer and their families throughout the Sunshine Coast region. Operated by a dedicated team of staff and hundreds of volunteers, Bloomhill provides a range of services and complimentary therapies, transport to appointments, massage and counselling.

If you would like to book tickets, donate auction or raffle items, or be a business sponsor for this worthy cause call Gail at the Bloomhill Cancer Help Centre on 5445 5794.

The Sunshine Coast Literary Association is calling for enthusiastic community members to join its Executive Committee for 2011-2012.

The AGM will be held on Tuesday, 30August at 6.30pm in rooms DG.47 and DG.48 at the University of the Sunshine Coast and will discuss upcoming events and elect the new committee. The AGM is open to all current committee members and anybody who wishes to join on the day; refreshments will be provided.

Nominations can be made at the meeting or beforehand. Online nomination forms are available in the AGM event listing at www.scliterary.org.

While some members of the committee will nominate again for their current positions, Vice President Andrew Thelander, Treasurer Graham Paterson and Secretary Andrea Storey are standing down due to work, family or travel commitments.

SCLA President Bryan Ward said the meeting will give community members the opportunity to get more involved in the association by joining the committee.

“The leadership committee plays an important role as they are responsible for organising all of the association’s events and activities,” Bryan said.

“The SCLA committee is vital to the future of the association and without their dedication it will cease to exist,” Bryan said.

Formed in 2005, the SCLA provides a pathway for the Sunshine Coast’s aspiring writers and enthusiasts to explore their interests, develop skills and showcase their work.  It allows like-minded individuals to exchange ideas and seek advice to develop their abilities.

The association offers regular literary workshops, seminars and events, awards programs and monthly Front Write Up literary performance evenings that provide an opportunity to showcase the talents of members. The SCLA also promotes other state and national writing competitions that offer successful applicants great prizes and recognition.

For more information on beginning your journey as a writer and becoming a member of the SCLA, to RSVP or to make a nomination for the executive committee, please email info@scliterary.org, visit www.scliterary.org or phone 07 5450 2690

A unique business philosophy and approach to digital marketing, has seen leading Internet marketing firm, Traffika attract great staff and achieve big results for its clients.

Now in its second year, Traffika continues to attract and maintain ‘major players’ from across Australia and worldwide with their growing reputation for excellence and the fresh way they approach business driven by their somewhat unconventional core values.

Traffika’s Managing Director, Matt Forman said Traffika’s business practice was guided by their eight core values which demonstrated their commitment to education, improvement and growth, shared knowledge, pushing the boundaries, challenging the ‘status quo’, giving and providing a superior client experience.

Traffika’s Social Media Specialist, Chris Pahor said the core values influence all parts of my role at Traffika, acting as a helpful motivator and helping bring tasks back on track from time to time.

“Traffika is the most dynamic company I have ever worked for, and this is driven by the people in each team being given the freedom to pursue ideas and take projects in their own direction,” Chris said.

“When I was looking for a company to work with, Traffika was very attractive because of its dynamic approach and core values.

“The whole team is wildly passionate about what they do which makes for an innovative and creative culture and a fantastic working environment,” Chris said.

“Everyone at Traffika applies an ‘always learning’ attitude to their jobs and are encouraged to embrace new things, an essential quality in an industry that is constantly changing,” Chris said.

“I love this about my job because it is a changing industry and the team is always learning from each other and also take part in industry education opportunities.”

Emily Vernon joined Traffika two years ago as their Business Growth Strategist after years of experience working in Online Marketing at companies Hitwise and Wotif.com.

“Traffika is unlike any company I have worked for before, because we, the staff, actually wrote the core values and agreed on them together,” Emily said.

“They ensure we are all working under the same vision and provide the foundation for our unique culture, what we strive for with our clients and how we interact with each other,” Emily said.

“Our team are really smart, intuitive online specialists with a real depth of experience and we all believe that you can never claim to be an expert because our industry, platforms, tools and technology changes so quickly,” Emily said.

Bond University, Lorna Jane, Sunsuper and Alibaba.com are just some of the companies reaping the benefits of Traffika’s ‘results driven’ approach.

Testament to their winning ‘business formula’, Traffika received the main prize for overall business excellence at the 2011 Sunshine Coast regional Westpac Business Excellence Awards, which recognises excellence and contribution in customer service, community involvement and employment.

Driven by one of Traffika’s core values, to ‘give and empower to receive and achieve’, the company has nominated to give 1% of it sales (not just profits) to charities and worthy causes around the world through the Buy 1 Give 1 program and aims to improve the lives of five million people by 2014. Since starting the program only five months ago, Traffika has already reached 5 per cent of their target, improving the lives of 232,095 people.

“Our core values shape who we are as an organisation and team by setting clear benchmarks for what is acceptable behaviour within the company and to our clients, suppliers, partners and the broader community, ” Matt said.

For more information about Traffika, visit www.traffika.com.au.

Bloomhill Cancer Help will hold their second annual Support Walk this Sunday, 7 August with hopes to double the amount raised last year.

The aptly named Support Walk will raise funds for the local charity so they can continue to offer valuable services across the Sunshine Coast region to those who are living with cancer and their families.

Walk Co-ordinators, Kerron Bromfield and Terry Bailey said as a non-profit organisation, Bloomhill relies on the money raised from the Op Shops, donations, grants and fundraising activities such as the Support Walk.

“Last year’s walk a great success with 200 walkers participating to raise more than $3,000 and we are hoping we can exceed that amount this Sunday,” Kerron said.

“Reaching this target will make a real difference in what Bloomhill can offer in the local community,” Kerron said.

Bloomhill patron and former Olympian, Raelene Boyle will lead the walkers at 9am which will follow the picturesque 2.5km walk from La Balsa Park on Harbour Parade to finish beside the Kawana Surf Club where a free sausage sizzle awaits to revive participants.

“The Support Walk is a great opportunity for families to spend time together, enjoy the great outdoors and support a worthy cause,” Kerron said.

A donation of $10 per person or $20 per family is requested to participate in the walk.

This year all sponsorship and registrations will be collected through Everyday Hero. Simply visit the website, www.everydayhero.com.au and search for Bloomhill under the ‘Heroes’ tab. If you wish to register, click on ‘Join the Team’ and follow the prompts or to make a donation or sponsor a family or friend, click ‘donate’.

For more information or to participate in the walk, please call Kerron Bromfield on 0438 322 098 or visit Bloomhill Cancer Help at 58 Ballinger Road, Buderim.

Funding to commercialise new needle-free vaccine delivery technology

BRISBANE, QLD, AUSTRALIA – One of Australia’s largest ever investments in a start-up biotechnology company – AU$15million – has been made with the aim of developing a revolutionary new needle-free vaccine delivery system.

The investment led by OneVentures, with co-investors Brandon Capital, the Medical Research Commercialisation Fund (MRCF), and US-based HealthCare Ventures in the new company, Vaxxas Pty Ltd, will enable Professor Mark Kendall of UQ’s Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) to continue his pioneering research and development of the Nanopatch™.

The Nanopatch™ has thousands of small projections designed to deliver the vaccine to abundant immune cells in the skin, whereas the traditional syringe hits the muscle where there are few immune cells.

Early stage testing in animals so far has shown that a Nanopatch delivered flu vaccine was effective with only 1/150^th of the dose compared to a syringe and that the adjuvants currently required to boost the immunogenicity of vaccines may not be needed.

In addition to improving the efficiency of delivery, the Nanopatch has the potential to dramatically improve patient convenience and reduce the complications associated with needle phobia, needle stick injuries and cross contamination, which are key global health issues.

The Nanopatch™ is designed for thermostability and to not require refrigeration, making transport much cheaper and easier, particularly to developing nations around the world.

Professor Kendall said in the developed world about 14% of a vaccine’s costs were attributed to maintaining the cold chain and in the developing world, the cold chain impact on vaccines is even greater.

“In Africa about half of vaccines aren’t working properly because of a breakdown in the cold chain”.

“The Nanopatch™ also offers a way to stop needle-stick injuries during vaccination – which again is a particularly important problem in Africa; with a third of vaccines affected by other complications brought about through cross contamination needle stick injury,” he said.

OneVentures General Partner Dr Paul Kelly said the significance of this investment was not just in its size.

“This investment syndicate includes both local and international investors which is a real vote of confidence in the Nanopatch™ approach and an appreciation of the potential of the technology to revolutionise vaccine delivery worldwide,” Dr Kelly said.

“This is a great example of OneVentures’ strategy of identifying game changing Australian technology with global market reach and relevance and putting the resources together to enable that to happen.  These resources are not just financial but expertise, networks and the experience in building high-growth companies and taking novel technologies through to innovative products. This is akin to the traditional model of venture capital of recycling proven entrepreneurial expertise.”

As part of this strategy and in connection with the investment, Dr. Paul Kelly of OneVentures, Dr. Stephen Thompson of Brandon Capital Partners, and Douglas E. Onsi of HealthCare Ventures will join the Board of Directors of Vaxxas, along with Dr Dean Moss, General Manager of Life Sciences at UniQuest.

The investment was negotiated on behalf of the University of Queensland by UniQuest Pty Limited, The University of Queensland’s main commercialisation company, UniQuest, has led the commercialisation of the Nanopatch™ technology to date, and will hand over the responsibility to Vaxxas following this investment.

Dr Stephen Thompson, Managing Director of Brandon Capital Partners, said launching Vaxxas as a company was a critical next step for the Nanopatch technology.

“In Australia, we invest heavily in our excellent research and development capability but have a relatively poor record of taking those technologies to world markets. The syndicate’s investment in Vaxxas is consistent with its willingness to work with Australia’s leading research institutes, including the AIBN, to transform this exciting research effort into a commercially useful product.  We need to convert the promise of the technology into a reality,” he said.

Douglas E. Onsi, Managing Director of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based HealthCare Ventures, commented on the importance of and the breadth of the opportunity for the Nanopatch™-technology.

“We believe that the Nanopatch™ has the potential to transform vaccine delivery for the pharmaceutical industry and for patients around the world.  HealthCare Ventures searches globally for the most promising innovations in life sciences, and we are very pleased to make our first Australian investment in Vaxxas,” he said.

Auzion, a leading Queensland renewable energy company, will be representing the Queensland solar industry at the 6^th World Environmental Education Congress (WEEC) this week.

The Congress will be held from Tuesday, 19^th to Saturday, 23^rd July at the Brisbane Exhibition and Convention Centre and will offer field trips, workshops, social activities, expert speakers and plenty of interesting environmental exhibits.

Auzion founder and CEO, Mark Leckenby said Auzion is an active supporter of education particularly surrounding environmental and sustainability issues and solutions.

“This is the first time the WEEC has been held in Australia, providing us with a unique opportunity to showcase Auzion’s capabilities in the innovation space and network with a wide range of delegates and international representatives,” Mark said.

Earlier this year, Auzion took their commitment to education one step further, becoming a silver sponsor of this year’s WEEC event.

“We are incredibly proud to be a associated with the WEEC and help drive industry education and improvement,” Mark said.

“I see sponsoring a global event like the WEEC as a sound investment in the future of environment,” Mark said.

First held in Portugal in 2003, the Congress was created to provide a forum for discussion, learning and unity among environmental educators. Since it’s launch, the Congress has attracted thousands of environmental stakeholders from over 100 different countries. The theme for this year’s congress will be Explore, Experience, Educate and is expected to attract 500 to 750 delegates from all around the world.

Mark will also be making a short presentation at the Congress, discussing Auzion’s ‘Sustainable Homes Project’, which aims to help building owners to reduce energy consumption through the use of solar power and other energy saving features.

“This project was launched in 2008 with the goal of providing 50 homes with at least 25% energy savings and payback within 5 years,” Mark said.

“The results of the project led to the development of our AuziMax Energy Maximiser, which is a device that allows households to have better control over their energy usage,” Mark said.

The AuziMax is Auzion’s own customer-designed revolutionary energy management system that enables the user to monitor energy in the home or business through a secure web portal and potentially save up to 20% more energy. The system won the Living Smart Solution award at the Glossies last month and is set to hit the commercial market in August.

For more information about Auzion and its energy solution products, visit www.auzion.com, or for more information about the WEEC, visit www.weec2011.org.

Photo: The Auzion team getting ready for the WEEC