Graphene’s unique characteristics make it an ideal component for the materials that will be part of our future. The Graphene+ 2018 conference, presented by the Australian Graphene Industry Association in Melbourne on 8 October 2018, will explore why.

Graphene+ 2018 is not about graphite mining or graphene manufacturers – it’s about the devices, solutions, products and services that graphene will make possible. It’s also about entrepreneurs and start-ups.

University-initiated start-ups contributed 40% of the value added to the Australian economy from 2004 to 2011 and created more than 1.2 million new jobs, representing 90% of net positive job creation – or 820,000 new jobs. While politicians focus on fighting over company tax cuts, start-up companies are driving the economy.

The challenges the human race faces are big and they need big ideas to respond to them and the ability to execute. One of the key areas of concern is the world we live in – and graphene will play a role in improving the environment from reducing our dependency on plastics to the reduction of CO₂ in the atmosphere. These problems need vision, but they also need execution.

Graphene+ will bring together entrepreneurs, investors, visionaries, engineers, scientists, executives, political leaders and the general public, with the goal of taking the brakes off innovation. By communicating and collaborating, we can solve the problems, invent the solutions, find the industry’s market partners, understand the supply chains and create economic value.

At Graphene+, you can meet the Australian scientists and engineers who are changing the world with smart materials. These innovators – who will drive the country’s economic future over the next 100 years, will generate accelerated ROI for themselves and their companies and become the leaders within their industry verticals. They have been quietly “punching above their weight” for years. Now it’s time for them to come out of the shadows and generate economic value for Australia and the world.