Internationally-recognised champion of frugal innovation, Professor Balram Bhargarva, will run a two-day workshop at QUT this week.
Prof Bhargava who is Professor of Cardiology at the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, and Executive Director for the Stanford India Biodesign Centre, believes frugal innovation will be the key to healthcare into the future.
India has a culture of frugal or "jugaad" innovation born out of scarcity of resources for a burgeoning population.
Frugal innovation responds to limitations and turns constraints into advantages creating innovations that are not only low cost but that often outperform alternatives.
This workshop, to be held on August 28-29, aims to educate QUT's emerging leaders in innovation, entrepreneurship, design and biomedical technology in biodesign concepts infused with India's culture of frugal innovation.
Australia spends $120 billion annually on health, an increase from 7 per cent to 10 per cent of GDP in a decade. Rapid growth in healthcare expenditure is set to continue with an ageing population and the emergence of costly new treatments that extend and improve quality of life. Novel approaches to healthcare technology are required to stem the growth healthcare costs.
The workshop will cover some of the fundamental concepts of the Stanford-India Biodesign Program including:
. Requirement for interdisciplinary, team-based learning combining engineering, clinical, design and business trainees;
. Intensive exposure to medical needs-finding and characterization;
. Examples of the process of invention, prototyping and early stage testing; and
. Reflection on regulatory, reimbursement, patenting and technology transfer issues in different settings.
Further information on Prof Bhargava and Frugal Innovation see http://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/media/2012/frugal-innovation-key-to-healthcare/
Media contact: Rose Trapnell, QUT media team leader, 07 3138 2361 or 0407 585 901 rose.trapnell@qut.edu.au
