Our History

From Innovation to Impact: The Story of FREO2

Solving problems is at the heart of all our work. Our journey began with University of Melbourne physicists Dr Bryn Sobott, Dr David Peake, and Prof Roger Rasool, who had worked extensively on high-technology sensors in international laboratories and played pivotal roles in establishing the Australian Synchrotron. Meanwhile, Prof Jim Black, who spent much of his early career as a clinician in remote rural areas of Mozambique, was working in global health at the Nossal Institute, developing health diagnostic tools.

In 2010, a diverse group of individuals from various backgrounds convened at the University of Melbourne to discuss global health challenges. It was here that Bryn first learned a staggering statistic: pneumonia is the single largest killer of children worldwide. Although oxygen is a proven life-saving medicine, traditional oxygen cylinders in low-and-middle-income countries can be extremely costly, and many oxygen concentrators require regular maintenance and a constant energy supply—resources that are often inaccessible in low-resource health facilities.

Inspired to address this urgent need, the physics team explored innovative ways to provide oxygen without relying on electricity. This early work was unfunded until 2013, when the team was awarded a Saving Lives at Birth Grant. This funding marked the birth of the Fully Renewable Energy Oxygen project — FREO2.

Ideas need to be implemented to have an impact. These three "I’s”, Innovation, Implementation, and Impact, are key to achieving sustainable change. Recognising this, our founding members, Bryn, David, Roger, and Jim, established FREO2 as a not-for-profit organisation to deploy novel oxygen technology in low-resource settings. Since then, we have built local FREO2 teams in Uganda, Tanzania, and the Solomon Islands, and developed the first-ever oxygen technology that can produce, store, and deliver medical-grade oxygen even during a power cut.

Our history is a testament to the power of collaboration and innovation, and we remain committed to our mission of reducing mortality rates of children in low-resource settings through cutting-edge solutions.

Pictured below (from left to right): Prof Jim Black, Dr Bryn Sobott, XXX, Dr David Peake, and Prof Roger Rasool.

FREO2 Highlights