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Western Australian researchers fighting against breast cancer have won the final of an international technology presentation competition held in San Francisco in the US.

Associate Professor Robert McLaughlin, from The University of Western Australia's Optical and Biomedical Engineering Laboratory won the SPIE Start Up Challenge for his presentation of the Microscope in a Needle project and received a cash prize and the opportunity to attend a week-long entrepreneur boot camp.

Professor McLaughlin fought off tough competition to win the international contest, including leading researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Toronto as well as CEOs of technology companies.

The fast-paced business pitch competition invites new entrepreneurs to pitch their light-based technology product to a team of business development experts and venture capitalists.

"Our goal is to commercialise a technique that can help guide surgeons to perform safer, more effective breast cancer surgery.  We are lucky to be working with an excellent team of surgeons, pathologists and radiologists here in WA," Professor McLaughlin said.

"2014 is looking like an exciting year for our research team."

Dr Ramin Rafiei, Senior Instrumentation Engineer at UWA, was also a finalist and gave a presentation of his ‘low cost robust infrared spectrometer for mobile food and agriculture platforms' project.

SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics, was founded in 1955 to advance light-based technologies.

For more information about the competition, visit SPIE .

Media references

Associate Professor Robert McLaughlin (UWA Optical and Biomedical Engineering Laboratory)  (+61 8)  6488 3105
David Stacey (UWA Public Affairs)  (+61 8)  6488 3229  /  (+61 4) 32 637 716