University of Melbourne: Seeking industry partners to co-develop and validate nanoscale sensing technology
Opportunity for
- Fresh produce growers, packers, wholesalers, retailers and exporters
- Food supply chain, cold chain, logistics and quality assurance partners
- Packaging, IoT, sensor and agri-food technology companies
- Industry partners interested in pilot studies, validation or co-development for sensors for different applications
- Research, commercialisation or funding partners supporting food waste reduction and supply chain innovation
Opportunity description
Industry challenge
Food spoilage creates significant economic, environmental and supply chain challenges across Australia’s fresh produce sector. Large volumes of fruit and vegetables are lost each year due to deterioration during storage, transport and distribution, with impacts including reduced product value, rejected shipments, food waste and avoidable greenhouse gas emissions.
For growers, packers, logistics providers, retailers and exporters, the ability to identify spoilage early is critical. However, many existing quality monitoring approaches are manual, reactive, destructive, labour-intensive or difficult to deploy continuously across the supply chain. By the time visible signs of decomposition appear, it may be too late to intervene, isolate affected produce or redirect product to an alternative use.
There is a growing need for rapid, sensitive and practical sensing technologies that can monitor freshness in real time, detect early biochemical changes, and support more accurate shelf-life prediction. Earlier intervention could help reduce waste, improve quality assurance, strengthen export competitiveness and support more sustainable fresh produce supply chains.
Current opportunity
A University of Melbourne research group is developing an advanced wireless nanoscale sensing device for real-time monitoring of fruit and vegetable freshness and spoilage. The device has sensors arrays incorporated together in a single device. These sensing modules are supported by AI and machine learning to classify fresh versus spoiled produce, detect early spoilage indicators and support shelf-life prediction.
The team is seeking industry and commercial partners to help validate priority use cases, provide feedback on operational needs, and support future co-development, trials or pilot studies. Partners may include fresh produce supply chain businesses, food quality and safety teams, logistics and cold chain operators, packaging companies, sensor or IoT businesses, and organisations focused on reducing food waste.
For industry partners, this is an opportunity to shape an emerging technology at an early stage and explore how real-time freshness monitoring could reduce losses, improve product quality and support better decision-making across the supply chain.
Opportunity background
The University of Melbourne team has expertise in nanoelectronic sensor development, AI-enabled signal analytics, machine learning, PCB development and portable sensing systems. The technology is currently at an early prototype/proof-of-concept stage, with current development focused on integrating multiple sensing modules, improving sensitivity and selectivity, and identifying the most valuable commercial applications.
The group is interested in engaging with partners who can help define the strongest industry use cases and support future research translation. Potential pathways may include industry-linked research, pilot studies, collaborative funding applications, licensing, commercial partnerships, or future spin-out development as the technology matures.
Potential other applications
While the initial focus is on fresh produce freshness monitoring, early spoilage detection and shelf-life prediction, the sensing platform may have broader applications across agri-food and environmental monitoring.
The underlying technology can potentially be adapted for different biomarkers and fingerprints depending on the industry need. This could create opportunities in meat and seafood quality monitoring, dairy freshness assessment, cold chain integrity, food contamination risk detection, water quality sensing, soil health monitoring and environmental gas monitoring.
There may also be opportunities to partner with startups, scaleups or established businesses developing complementary technologies where reliable sensing is needed to validate performance or monitor changing conditions over time. For example, the platform could support businesses seeking to measure emissions, monitor biological activity, detect contamination risk or improve quality assurance in complex supply chain environments.
The research group is interested in speaking with partners across sectors to understand where the strongest commercial need, willingness to pay and potential pathway to market may sit.