Victorian inventor Paul Scoullar has been announced as a finalist in INNOVIC’s International
Next Big Thing Award™ 2009 for the SITORO®, a next generation radiation detection and
measurement system that counteracts ‘pulse pile-up’.
 
"Pulse pile-up is a phenomenon that occurs when detectors receive too much information for
them to be able to process at once,” Mr Scoullar said.
 
"The usual way of dealing with pulse pile-up is just to discard the information.  In some
applications, up to 95 per cent of information is just lost.  It goes into the ‘too hard’ basket.
 
“SITORO® can read, decipher and process up to 2.5 million events per second with 90 per cent 
measurable data.  Traditional methods can only read 100 thousand events per second with
less than 60 per cent measurable data.
 
“The enormity of the improvement in technology is like being on a plane that can fly from
Melbourne to London in 48 minutes.”
 
Ms Joss Evans, CEO of INNOVIC, the not-for-profit organisation that runs the International
Next Big Thing Award said the SITORO® has a number of diverse applications. 
 
"Applications of radiation detection include medical imaging to recognise disease; security
screening to identify explosives and other contraband and the exploration for minerals and oil,"
she said.
 
SITORO® has received a number of state and federal grants.  It is a result of ten years of
research and development that had its genesis at the University of Melbourne and relies on
complex mathematical algorithms.
 
SITORO® is one of 25 finalists in INNOVIC’s International Next Big Thing Award™ 2009 - a
competition to find and showcase the best new Australian and international innovations. 
Winners will receive over $60,000 in cash and prizes when they are announced on Thursday 2
July.
 
An exhibition of the finalists will be held at the Melbourne Museum in Carlton from Sunday 30
May to Sunday 12 July.  The free exhibition is open daily from 10am to 5pm.
 
The People’s Choice Award winner will be chosen by popular vote.  On-line voting is available
at (www.nextbigthingaward.com).
 
INNOVIC is an independent, not-for-profit organisation that provides a range of practical
commercialisation services and free seminars to help people with new ideas.  INNOVIC
assists over 2,000 innovators every year.  Details at www.innovic.com.au.
 
Award sponsors include: Davies Collison Cave, Rouse & Co, AusIndustry, DIIRD, MYOB
Australia, City of Melbourne, CVP film & television, Hotel Windsor, IP Australia, KPMG, La
Salle Matrix Thinking, Melbourne Museum, Australian Productivity Council, BSI, IMES -
International Market Entry and KCA - Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia.