Damien`s pitch was a professionally presented solution designed to address the issue of the job crisis arising out of the global pandemic and future automation.

His three-minute video pitch of his service named ‘Regina’, outlined how the use of cloud services, along with an integrated system of hardware and software technologies utilising blockchain mining, can support the generation of residual income for everyday Australians and families around the world.

Damien said, “Being the winner of the ACU Co-Lab Social Enterprise Award is a huge validation for my business model and how it will be able to help millions of people around the world. I'm really looking forward to receiving mentorship from an ACU executive member and drawing on their experience to help make the goals of ‘Regina’ a reality. The $10,000 prize money will definitely be invested back into the business to purchase more parts to finalise the development of my initial prototypes.

“The idea for Regina came to me when I was thinking about the idea of a Universal Basic Income (UBI) and how many businesses have exploited customers with the allure of a 'passive income'. It made me really upset that people who are doing it tough are the targets of these predatory businesses. It seemed that the only real passive income people could receive would come from a government-backed UBI. My aim for this business is to have ‘Regina’ servers in everyone's home working hard to make each household earn at least $1,000 per month. This dream is still in its very early stages but I'm passionate about making it a reality”.

Damien is currently studying a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Philosophy and Psychology and came to ACU through the recently established Veteran`s Entry Program (VEP).

“I was medically discharged from the Army at the start of 2021 for having PTSD and Major Depressive disorder after serving four and a half years. I applied to multiple universities but found little success. However, ACU's Veteran's Program gave me a rare opportunity to be able to go back to uni and study my dream units. I'm extremely grateful to ACU for allowing me to study again, and I'm doing my best to make the most of this opportunity," said Damien.

AtOne Australia has claimed the local prize in the Innovation Districts COVID-19 R&D Challenge, run in partnership with NSW Government..
The final of three challenges sought to identify how businesses could accelerate the commercialisation of research products and services that strengthened the entrepreneurship capability of the state for a post COVID-19 economy.

AtOne helps organisations empower their employees and teams to manage their mental and emotional wellbeing so they can be at their peak health and performance every day. They specifically target stress and build mind fitness using virtual reality meditation. AtOne’s services can be used in any organisation to support emotional regulation, recovery, to train the mind and to increase resilience.

AtOne uses the latest virtual reality technology with a multi-sensory approach to fast-track people’s meditation experience taking them into a deep state of relaxation, faster. Individual and anonymised group reports give insights into the mind fitness of people illustrating trends over time. The mind fitness categories include reporting in five areas of mind fitness- recovery, focus, clarity, engagement and emotions. Recommendations are given each week with online training to support and improve low-scoring categories.

An ACU alumna herself, Edwina studied a Graduate Certificate in Negotiation and graduated in 2015.

The Co-Lab team are delighted that the $10,000 Challenge prize money will assist with furthering the research and development of an ACU alumni business and look forward to working together.