Tassie innovation the bee’s knees

A TASMANIAN-based tech project that harvests energy from bees has been honoured at an awards night for Australian technology.

The CSIRO and Vale Institute of Technology Energy Harvesting MicroDevice project won the research and development category at last night’s iAwards ceremony in Hobart.

The project uses tiny microelectro-mechanical systems to harness bees’ micromovements to generate electricity. The 3.4 x 2.5mm devices are attached to the bees, harvesting vibrations at a frequency of less than 400Hz.

The technology is being used in the CSIRO’s swarm sensing project, which seeks to improve honey bee pollination and better understand bee colony collapse.

More than 200 people from the information and communications technology sector attended the iAwards. TasICT chief executive officer Will Kestin said the event was a showcase of Tasmania’s rapidly advancing ICT sector.

Other winners included Tasmanet, Asdeq Labs, UTAS/41st Degree Software, HIT Lab Australia/UTAS and the Tasmanian Department of Education.