Hinkler Innovation is a Bundaberg community-led collaboration to support, recognise, and foster Australian entrepreneurs making a local, national, and global contribution to innovation. Hinkler Innovation continues the pioneering spirit of the late Bert Hinkler.
We believe innovation is a collision sport. The Hinkler Innovation Initiative exists to carry on the innovation spirit of Bundaberg's homegrown hero Bert Hinkler.
Hinkler Innovation award breakfast
The Hinkler Innovation Award honours the pioneering spirit of Bert Hinkler’s legacy to continue innovation in the Bundaberg Region.
Presentation of the award takes place at an annual breakfast which also features a panel of innovators and thought-leaders who will inspire and encourage individuals and organisations to develop new ideas, products and services. This results in economic growth contributors through attracting talent, investment and resources to our region.
The most recent Hinkler Innovation Award event was held on 16 November 2023 at the Bundaberg Multiplex Sport and Convention Centre.
The theme for the event was ‘Innovation for the Future’ and it featured an outstanding panel of speakers including futurist demographer, Simon Keustenmacher and Biomedical Engineer, Dr Jordan Nguyen.
Our Special Presenters
Dr Jordan Nguyen
Dr Jordan Nguyen
Dr Jordan Nguyen is a leading Australian engineer, inventor and innovator, committed to improving as many lives as possible, and becoming a driving force behind both human and technological evolution as we move into the future.
Jordan is Founder and CEO of Psykinetic, a social business creating futuristic, inclusive and empowering technologies to improve independence and quality of life for disability, aged care and beyond. Dr Jordan and his team have successfully created a mind-controlled wheelchair, numerous Virtual and Augmented reality applications, inclusive gaming, an instrument that enabled a friend with cerebral palsy to perform live music with her eye movements and blinks, and devices that make it possible to control household appliances or even drive cars using only the tiny electrical signals created from eye movements.
Author of the book 'A Human's Guide to the Future', Jordan is also an award-winning documentary maker and presenter.
Simon Kuestenmacher
Simon Kuestenmacher
Simon Kuestenmacher is a Director and Co-founder of The Demographics Group.
He presents on demographic and global trends that are shaping Australia today and into the future and his observations are enjoyed by corporate, government and industry audiences alike.
Simon is a columnist for The New Daily newspaper and a regular contributor to The Australian newspaper; and he is a media commentator on demographic and data matters.
In his spare time Simon has authored three books on maps and runs what is by now the world’s largest Twitter account dedicated to maps and data. His social media posts reach over 35 million people every month. Simon ranks as one of the world’s top 10 influencers in data.