Sydney – An Australian invention with the potential for global impact – a revolutionary motorcycle helmet dubbed Cone-Head – was named 2007 Invention of The Year last week on ABC TV’s The New Inventors. Brisbane physicist Don Morgan spent more than 20 years researching and designing the unique helmet, which has a distinctive cone-shaped structure and lining that absorbs the impact of an accident. Morgan won a package of tailored business advice and assistance worth tens of thousands of dollars from IP Australia, CSIRO, AusIndustry and Austrade, to help take his Cone-Head to the next level in Australia and overseas. The New Inventors People’s Choice Award, voted by viewers, went to Rockhampton (Qld) emergency nurse Glen Riverstone for his Snapit Ampoule Opener. Another Queenslander, Nicholas Dale, took the inaugural Bright Spark Award for an inventor aged 18 years or under for his One Handed Potato Processor. The New Inventors screens on the ABC’s Australia Network Asia-wide, except in Malaysia and China, on Mondays at 1930 Hong Kong time and on Tuesdays at 1.30 and 1400. Episode 35 of the current series aired on Australia Network last week; the grand final is episode 43.