The winners of the fourth annual KiwiNet Research Commercialisation Awards were announced at the end of June 2016. The awards recognise the commercial success of scientific and technological ideas.
The awards are a unique opportunity to celebrate entrepreneurial spirit, research excellence and savvy business leadership. The winning research projects have been funded by government and showcase how scientific discoveries can lead to exciting products and services that contribute to the growth of New Zealand’s economy.
2016 finalists share what excites them about using science to power innovation in this video.
These are the 2016 KiwiNet Research Commercialisation Awards winners, along with links to YouTube clips describing their projects.
Norman F. B. Barry Foundation Emerging Innovator Award
Joint winners:
- Dr Daniel Holland, University of Canterbury: Mathematics plus measurements equals economic benefit
- Dr Carla Meledandri, University of Otago and The MacDiarmid Institute: Harnessing silver nanoparticles to treat and prevent dental disease
Baldwins Researcher Entrepreneur Award
Associate Professor Cather Simpson, The University of Auckland and The MacDiarmid Institute: From sensors to sperm sorting - lighting up New Zealand’s economy with lasers
MinterEllisonRuddWatts Research & Business Partnership Award
Scion and Sonae Industria: Woodforce – a high-performance wood fibre-reinforced plastic
PwC Commercial Deal Award
AgResearch: ZeaKal – agricultural biotechnology
ZeaKal is an agricultural biotechnology company focusing on increasing the photosynthetic capacity and efficiency of plants, allowing crops to harvest more sunlight, capture more carbon dioxide and translate this into higher seed and grain yields.
Nature of science
The quest to make real-life applications inspires and motivates many scientists.
2016 Supreme Winner
Associate Professor Cather Simpson: From sensors to sperm sorting – lighting up New Zealand’s economy with lasers
Associate Professor Cather Simpson is a physicist and chemist at The University of Auckland and an expert in lasers and photonics. She is not new to commercialisation success. In 2010, she founded the Photon Factory, with over $2.5 million in commercial contracts.
More recent ventures include Engender Technologies Ltd and Orbis Diagnostics Ltd. Engender Technologies Ltd has commercialised the use of microfluidic and photonic technology to make sperm sorting by sex more efficient. Orbis Diagnostics Ltd is also working to help the dairy industry with technology developed to carry out ‘point of cow’ analyses of milk composition, on the spot, in the milking shed. This is a great example of science working with industry right at the grassroots level.
Activity idea
This unit plan describes how students can design a disposable product as a sustainable alternative to an existing product using potato starch. This encourages students to develop their design and innovation skills in the context of increasing plastics use. They will also gain understanding of the challenges of developing sustainable alternatives.
The KiwiNet Awards celebrate successful innovation in New Zealand. To explore the concept of innovation further in a New Zealand context, students could use this activity on unpacking innovation.
Related content
Take a look at some of the previous winners of the Kiwinet Awards in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
Innovation is an important driver of economic and social development in New Zealand. The Hub features a wide range of exciting examples, including activities like this selective sheep breeding activity.
Useful link
The KiwiNet Research Commercialisation Awards celebrate the achievements of individuals, teams and organisations turning research excellence into economic or social gain.
Check out the KiwiNet website and their YouTube channel to view videos of the winners and finalists, information about the award categories, biographies of the judges and more.
