Codan boosts R&D and offers scholarships

Jonathan Nally

The company is boosting its investment in core and emerging technologies through partnerships and scholarships.

Codan has announced that it has formed a new Innovation Hub and CoLab in partnership with entrepreneurial innovation firm 11point2. The CoLab will be located at Adelaide’s advanced innovation precinct, Lot Fourteen.

In a statement, the company said that the development forms part of its “strategy to invest in core and emerging technologies to future-proof the business with a pipeline of differentiated intellectual property”.

The CoLab will focus on technology for situational awareness, especially non-GPSbased tracking and location. Key areas of research will include computer vision, RF location techniques, machine learning and data fusion algorithms.

“Codan is well known for a track record of innovation and product development: the CoLab with 11point2 will accelerate that process and ensure we are working on relevant industry problems,” said Codan’s Chief Technology Officer, Rory Linehan.

“The Innovation Hub will de-risk advanced technologies through research and proof-of-concept designs, with the CoLab driving market validation of key applications.”

Linehan said the move represents a significant investment in STEM and offers Codan an opportunity to recruit new research teams, further develop in-house talent and provide a platform for PhD research.

Being located at Lot Fourteen will provide CoLab with access to a global network of entrepreneurs, tech start-ups and worldclass research centres, he added.

In related news, Codan has partnered with The Playford Trust to offer PhD scholarships to South Australian students.

Codan’s recently formed Research & Technology group is focusing on core and emerging technologies related to the field of situational awareness, with an initial aim being the development of dissimilar technologies to support GPS-denied ranging, location, tracking and navigation.

The scholarships will contribute to the Research & Technology group in the following technologies: • Application of machine learning to inertial navigation. • RF digital signal processing for wireless ranging and localisation. • Application of computer vision technologies for simultaneous location and tracking.<br>

They are valued at $35,000 each, with the research to be conducted at Codan’s facility at Mawson Lakes.

The selection criteria and application platforms can be found at https://playfordtrust.com. au/project/codan-playford-trust-phd-scholarships/. Applications closed on 22 January 2021.

Information about the research can be obtained from the relevant faculty/college at each of the three South Australian universities: The University of Adelaide, Flinders University and the University of South Australia.

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Pictured: Steven Marshall, Premier of South Australia; Rory Linehan, Chief Technology Officer, Codan; Mark Ogden, Managing Partner, 11point2; Diane Dixon, State Project Lead, Lot Fourteen; and Chris Kirk, General Manager, Stone & Chalk.