With two separate teams in this year’s CSIRO ON Accelerate cohort, Macquarie is building quite the reputation for being a hothouse for tech innovation with impact.

This was cemented with the awarding of both of the program’s inaugural Stanford University scholarships to innovators from Macquarie. Congratulations to the following staff members, who both receive $30,000 to attend a Stanford Graduate School of Business entrepreneurship program.

Dr Kerstin Petroll from the Department of Molecular Sciences (who tweets under the fantastically appropriate handle @petroll_free) is part of the HydGene Renewables team, who are developing technology that converts plant material to hydrogen-powered electricity on site and on demand, providing a clean alternative to the 100,000 diesel generators sold in Australia each year. Watch Kristen explain their technology.

Matthew Van Breugel from the Department of Physics and Astronomy, is part of the Redback Systems team, who build compact, affordable, and robust ultra high-resolution spectrographs for use in a wide variety of industries including minerals exploration, defence and security, and food and water quality monitoring. Watch Matt explain their technology.