The businesses already choosing Tonsley to help them elevate and innovate

We’ve known for some time now that Tonsley Innovation Precinct was going to lead the pack in the future of business collaboration and innovation. As the City Messenger has noticed this week, these ambitious goals are coming to fruition and plenty of ground breaking businesses are coming on board.

“It is the optimum way of doing business in modern times,” Tonsley Project Steering Committee chairman Terry Burgess says.

“The way I look at Tonsley is it’s unique because it’s positioned to take advantage of all those specific ingredients of academia, industry and government. It was about making sure it is a place where people can meet and collaborate (and the) government should be applauded for having the vision to look (to create) something for the future.”

Flinders University professor and the Dean of the School of Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics, John Roddick adds to this notion, “It’s one thing for South Australia to say we have innovation here and we have got engineering capability over there; it’s actually bringing it into the one place so people meet over coffee or bump into each other and say, ‘I have an idea’.”

There are plenty of businesses joining in on the buzz at Tonsley, here are just a few.

Signostics is the industry leader in handheld ultrasound devices and believes its relocation to Tonsley was the perfect fit when they opened here in 2014.

Signostics’ Chief Operating Officer Stewart Bartlett says “For Signostics, Tonsley offered the opportunity to become a member of the country’s leading network of manufacturers and connect with academics from Flinders University

There was no better location for such an innovative business concept than Tonsley Innovation Precinct. The HEGS peg has revolutionised the laundry process, in a way we never knew we needed, with its dual-hooks, ergonomic grip and peg mark reduction technology; so much so, that the company was named the 2015 Telstra South Australian Business of the Year.

“We saw it as an opportunity to grow our business in a community environment, built on a foundation of collaboration, education, innovation and entrepreneurship,” HEGS Australia Chief Executive Scott Boocock says of the choice to establish HEGS Australia in Tonsley.

This incredibly influential South Australian business has created a pop-up shelter system that provides emergency housing for refugees and those suffering at the hands of natural disasters.

The global biannual Disrupt 100 list recognises companies which have the most potential to influence, change or create new international markets; Humanihut was the only South Australian company to gain a coveted spot.

“The Humanihut is an example of the kind of innovation needed to transform our state’s economy,” South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill says.

TAFE SA has always been a strong advocate for hands on training leading to jobs. The OPCE puts this into action with their unique facilities at Tonsley. The realistic simulation of oil and gas operations from extraction to separation teaches students with “real world experience of what it’s like in the field and what is expected of them,” says TAFE SA’s Director of Mining and Engineering, Alison.