Woodside Petroleum chief information officer and vice president Shaun Gregory told the AOG Expo in Perth last month that Australian academia was great at research, it had a poor track record of translating that into commercial use in industry.
It would appear this issue will be addressed by Mapizy's partnership, to be led by UWA head of computer science and software engineering, Professor Mark Reynolds and Mapizy founder Dr Mehdi Ravanbakhsh.
Mapizy specialises in remote sensing, geospatial information systems and computer vision technology.
Its main focus in the oil and gas industry is using the latest image sensor technology to remotely map and monitor critical infrastructure like underwater pipes through utilisation of AI.
"We are able to process big image data captured by ROV and UAV and detect defects in infrastructure through machine learning and computer vision," Dr Ravanbakhsh told Energy News.
"The outcome will be detail analytics and actionable information necessary to effective decision making."
Mapizy staff will work alongside students and researchers in developing viable technologies, creating a collaborative and mutually beneficial strategic relationship, which will allow Mapizy's expertise and capabilities to accelerate innovation and opportunity at UWA.
Dr Ravanbakhsh, who is already an adjunct research fellow at UWA, said close links to universities were essential for any successful start-up company.
"This exciting engagement will explore how to enrich the student experience, inspire students to consider start-ups, and share the practical experience of industry," he said.
Professor Reynolds said UWA students don't need to go to Silicon Valley to work with innovative tech start-ups.
"We are forging dynamic settings with them right here on campus," he said.
"With the strong entrepreneurial spirit alive and thriving at UWA, there are many willing collaborators working together in innovative ways.
"With encouragement from Mapizy, students have the opportunity to connect their learning to real business problems and develop creative solutions based on research insights to meet niche market needs."
This is the third successful partnership that the Faculty of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences has formed with a cutting-edge start-up.
Fleet Engineering is entering its second year of its UWA Mo4U agreement with conveyor belt wear detection start-up, Wearhawk, signing up late last year.
