Andrew French, from Millenium Park near North Arm Cove, has just returned from an overseas trip to promote his latest invention, the Magnetic Drive.

Andrew attended the prestigious Hanover Messe, the world's largest industrial fair attracting over 6000 exhibitors and 200,000 visitors, to showcase his invention and the reports he received for the new product were glowing.

"It raised a lot of eyebrows," Andrew said.

Andrew and his partner Peter Warner first started working on the project in 1999 and are now set to market the product to the general public, with over 60 of the world's largest industrial companies keen to trial the invention.

The Magnetic Drive creates a frictionless power transmission, with belts and pulleys no longer required to drive a machine.

"The technology makes machinery more compact and it is 22 per cent more efficient than a belt or direct drive," Andrew said.

The technology uses the repulsive forces of rare-earth magnets to drive a machine and can be used to operate anything from an auger to a motor in a nuclear power plant.

"Previously motors used in nuclear facilities had to be discarded as nuclear waste when they broke down and placed in chambers to prevent waste seepage, which was not only costly but also had a severe environmental impact," Andrew said.

"With this new technology the motors can be placed outside the reactor and the drive can still power the machine through a thin wall."

Andrew said the technology held a number of advantages over other drives.

"It saves power, there's no heat generated in the power transition, it has a number of in-built safety features and it makes no noise," he said.

"It also handles a certain amount of misalignment."

The drive is currently being torque tested by a facility in Holland and is expected to be ready for its international role-out within six weeks.

Meanwhile, Andrew has already started marketing the product in Australia through his business MGT in Karuah.

He has also set up a small distribution centre in Europe.

The drives start at around $73 for a 5-magnet gear and $171 for a 12-magnet gear.

Inserts for the drive start from $11.