Leading Ideas By Ford Ranger Podcast

Creating buildings that use alternative sources of energy, heating, and water is a great way for the occupants to leave a smaller footstep, but it also makes it cheaper to operate in the long term. Dr Graham Phillips investigates Decibel, a construction company that is designing and building sustainable offices and housing. The conductor of Decibel, Dylan Brady, has found ways of using materials like pixelcrete (which halves the amount of carbon) and innovative ways of collecting waste water for irrigation to create what is still renowned as Australia’s greenest building. Plus Graham speaks to the team at Xlam who work with Cross Laminated Timber, a wooden material that acts like brick.

Whether you’re a mechanic, builder, engineer, carpenter, Power Tools are what makes the trade and they’re becoming more advanced by the day. With the “internet of things” now affecting our daily life, it’s obvious that this will have a flow on effect into other areas, one of them being the power tool industry. In this episode Dr Graham Phillips talk to Peter Campbell of BOSCH tools who talks us through the latest trends in connected tools and smarter ways to help prevent theft. Then James Cooper from Total Tools chats about the next big thing in power tool technology and what customers are constantly asking for.

Every year across Australia, thousands of workers are injured or die on work-place accidents, but there are things that can be done. Doug Bester from Sentient Computing has developed a virtual reality headset that helps mitigate safety on the worksite by transporting workers to a site before they’ve even left the office. While Mike Thompson from Thompson security has developed an emergency stopping device that could literally save lives of countless employees. Dr Graham Philips helps you work smarter on the latest episode of 'Leading Ideas' - the podcast that is literally all about working safer and saving lives.

Advances in 3D printing technology is seamlessly linking the digital and physical worlds. As a result, demand is surging across all spheres from consumer applications right through to building and construction. On the latest episode of 'Leading Ideas', Dr Graham Phillips speaks with James Gardiner from Fahn Studios who is involved in a wide range of 3D printing projects from the underground tunnel in London to the 3D printing of ocean reefs. Matt Minio from Objective 3D tells the story of the Formula One team who needed a crucial part of their car in a matter of days and how 3D printing saved the day. Plus 3D printing for dental work and surgery means the world will change forever.

Dr Graham Philips discovers leading ideas in drone technology to help you work smarter. Dr Graham speaks to James Rennie from AUAV, who specialize in drone tech, about industries that have been revolutionized, including Forestry, Mining, Engineering, and Waste Management. James explains 3d mapping, thermal surveys, and more, plus shares the hilarious story about an eagle who took down a $45,000 drone. We also hear from Jai Sheridan who saved two boys lives without ever leaving the shore. 

It’s toxic. It's damaging. And long-term painters have suffered from cancer and lung problems. It’s so unsafe you shouldn’t walk into a room right after it’s been painted. But paint is big business and information about it is tightly controlled. In this episode of Leading Ideas, Zoe Piper, Director of ecolour, and her colleagues are offering an alternative: Non-toxic paint for the same price. Host Dr Graham Philips also speaks to Dr Anita Ho-Baille who has developed solar paint that can absorb water and vapour and split it to generate hydrogen and basically run your entire home (eventually). Plus a solar material that can be sprayed onto walls.

Dr Graham Philips speaks to Andrew Bate, the Founding Director, MD and CEO of Swarmfarm and Asher Bender from Ladybird and Data Scientist at University of Sydney, about the future of farming. The industry of agriculture and food are one of the most hotly debated and controversial subjects when it comes to the future, especially in Australia a land known for its large number of farmers. As the population grows, so too does our need for better farming practices and healthier food. In this episode we look at the ways farming is embracing the tech industry and creating jobs through their investments in future tech.

Dr Graham Philips looks at leading ideas in the workforce and finds out how robots are helping us work smarter. How will robots evolve how we work in industries such as engineering, farming, land management and forestry? Dr Graham explores the future of our workforce with Toby Walsh, Scentia Professor of Artificial Intelligence UNSW & novelist, Mark Pesce, Futurist, Innovator and host of the Next Billion Seconds podcast, and Anton Van Den Hengel, Director of Machine Learning Uni of SA.