KiwiNet Awards 2015
In this article, you can read about the winners and finalists in each 2015 KiwiNet Awards category.
Andy Buchanan – Timber Structures for Earthquake-resistant Buildings
Professor Andy Buchanan from the University of Canterbury is a world-leading researcher in the use of timber in earthquake-resistant buildings. His research is leading new global interest in using timber for multi-storey structures.
Professor Buchanan dominated the KiwiNet Awards 2015, winning the BNZ Supreme Award, the People’s Choice Award and the Researcher Entrepreneur Award.
Professor Buchanan and Bill Lee, Commercial Director at Canterbury University, discuss the nature and potential of this research for the building industry.
What the finalists had to do
On the day prior to the awards evening, each finalist gives a short presentation about their work - telling the story behind their development or innovation, explaining their collaboration with others, and describing their progress on the path to commercialising a product. Following their presentation, the panel of judges was able to further question the team.
Biopolymer box
The Biopolymer Network (BPN) and Barnes Plastics have developed ZealaFoam™ – a sustainable alternative to polystyrene.
This year, the judging panel included Helen Robinson (founding CEO of TZ1), Dr Ray Thomson (professional director and Chairman of MacDiarmid Institute), Rob Heebink (R&D Executive at Gallagher) and Sir Ray Avery (CEO, Medicine Mondiale).
The master of ceremonies for the day was well known scientist and science communicator Dr Michelle Dickinson (aka Nanogirl).
Researcher Entrepreneur Award
This award celebrates an entrepreneurial researcher who has either created an innovative business or contributed strongly to business innovation through technology licensing, start-up creation or by providing expertise.
Winner
The winner of the award was Professor Andy Buchanan, University of Canterbury. Andy and his team have initiated a step-change in the perception of timber as a structural and sustainable material for large-span and multi-storey buildings. This is allowing the design of buildings not previously possible when using traditional concrete and steel structures.
Other finalists in this category
Dr Ron Beatson, Plant & Food Research – Ron is responsible for many new hops cultivars. His research has transformed the supply of hops to New Zealand-based brewers, from a cottage industry to a sophisticated export product.
Ron Beatson – Transforming the Hops Industry
Science Group Leader at Plant & Food Research Dr Ron Beatson has been researching hops since 1984. His new cultivars are transforming the New Zealand hop industry.
Dr Beatson and Doug Donelan, CEO of New Zealand Hops, discuss the impact of the research and why Ron is known as a ‘bit of a rockstar’ on the international brewing scene.
Professor Phil Butler, University of Canterbury – Phil has commercialised a colour CT scanner. The scanners, built in New Zealand, are enabling better diagnosis for human health.
Phil Butler – Transforming Medical Imaging
Professor Phil Butler from MARS Imaging and the University of Canterbury has commercialised a colour CT scanner. His research is transforming the way X-ray is used in medicine and security and is opening up new commercial and science possibilities around the world.
Professor Butler and Bill Lee, Commercial Director at the University of Canterbury, discuss the development of the technology and the market possibilities.
Dr Stephen J Sowerby, University of Otago – Stephen is recognised for his work as a entrepreneurial researcher and in turn is promoting the value of commercially focused research to his university students.
Stephen Sowerby – Promoting Applied Science
Professor Stephen Sowerby, the director of the Applied Science programme at the University of Otago, has co-founded two companies based on his research in nanoparticle analysis and agricultural parasite diagnostics.
In turn, his commercial experience has been important in promoting the value of commercially focused research to his university students who are interested in science innovation and enterprise.
Professor Sowerby and David Christianson, the Commercialisation Manager at Otago Innovation Ltd, explain the importance of being able to provide students with an applied focus to their science research.
Stephen Sowerby – Promoting Applied Science
Professor Stephen Sowerby, the director of the Applied Science programme at the University of Otago, has co-founded two companies based on his research in nanoparticle analysis and agricultural parasite diagnostics.
In turn, his commercial experience has been important in promoting the value of commercially focused research to his university students who are interested in science innovation and enterprise.
Professor Sowerby and David Christianson, the Commercialisation Manager at Otago Innovation Ltd, explain the importance of being able to provide students with an applied focus to their science research.
PWC Commercial Deal Award
The kiwinet.org.nz website explains that the PWC Commercial Deal Award, “celebrates excellence in research commercialisation delivering outstanding innovation performance and the potential for generating significant economic impact for New Zealand”.
Winner
Plant & Food Research (PFR) was the winner in this award category. With their new raspberry cultivar Wakefield, PFR have revolutionised plant variety commercialisation in collaboration with US partner Northwest Plant Company LLC (NWPCO).
Early on, they could see that traditional royalties based on plant sales would not justify a plant-breeding programme, no matter how successful the new cultivars proved to be. The solution was to implement a new pricing model based on an annual grower licence fee for use of variety.
Learn about Commercialising a new apple variety and explore the related research on Breeding red-fleshed apples — and introduction.
PFR & Northwest Plant – Plant Variety Commercialisation
Plant & Food Research and US-based plant nursery company Northwest Plant have revolutionised plant variety commercialisation in their deal to market new raspberry cultivars in North America. The novel deal structure will see Plant & Food Research receive ongoing royalties in excess of $1 million, while farmers are realising substantial benefits from the new raspberry variety.
The deal also saw Plant & Food Research awarded the KiwiNet 2015 PWC Commercial Deal Award.
Wendy Cashmore, Manager Plant Varieties at Plant & Food Research, explains the deal and the benefits for all involved.
Other finalists in this category
Cawthron Institute have entered into a lucrative deal to supply a range of purified marine toxins to international company Sigma-Aldrich.
Cawthron Institute – Selling Purified Marine Toxins
Cawthron Institute’s lucrative deal to supply a range of purified marine toxins to international company Sigma-Aldrich saw them nominated for the PWC Commercial Deal Award at the KiwiNet Awards 2015.
Cawthron Technical Manager Paul McNabb and chemist Andy Selwood explain the use for the purified marine toxins and the steps they took to create a viable business model.
ESR, in collaboration with Forensic Science South Australia (FSSA), has designed and commercialised STRmix™ – an expert system for the interpreting of forensic DNA profiles that will have positive impacts for the criminal justice system.
ESR – STRmix
Crown research institute ESR was nominated in the KiwiNet PWC Commercial Deal Award for software developed with Forensic Science South Australia.
Their STRmix software, for forensic science, is improving DNA profiling interpretation and speeding up crime resolution. The software has created a strong revenue stream for ESR and is expanding rapidly into North American markets.
Jo-Anne Bright, ESR Science Leader and STRmix Co-Developer, and Bjorn Sutherland, ESR Forensic Development Manager and STRmix Commercialisation Lead, talk about this innovative software.
11Ants Analytics is a spin-out company from WaikatoLink that created and commercialised 11Ants RAP – a cloud-based customer science platform for the retail sector that transforms customer data into customer insights.
11Ants Analytics – Big Data Software
11Ants Analytics is a spin-out company from WaikatoLink that created and commercialised 11Ants RAP – a cloud-based customer science platform for the retail sector that transforms customer data into customer insights.
The company has licensed its solutions to a number of notable customers, and in early April, WaikatoLink announced its biggest deal to date – it completed the sale of the business of spin-out company 11Ants Analytics to a joint venture between Air New Zealand and Aimia Inc, the Canadian based data-driven marketing and loyalty analytics company.
11Ants Analytics CEO, Tom Fuyala and WaikatoLink CEO, Duncan Mackintosh talk about the successful commercial enterprise.
11Ants Analytics – Big Data Software
11Ants Analytics is a spin-out company from WaikatoLink that created and commercialised 11Ants RAP – a cloud-based customer science platform for the retail sector that transforms customer data into customer insights.
The company has licensed its solutions to a number of notable customers, and in early April, WaikatoLink announced its biggest deal to date – it completed the sale of the business of spin-out company 11Ants Analytics to a joint venture between Air New Zealand and Aimia Inc, the Canadian based data-driven marketing and loyalty analytics company.
11Ants Analytics CEO, Tom Fuyala and WaikatoLink CEO, Duncan Mackintosh talk about the successful commercial enterprise.
Minter Ellison Rudd Watts Research and Business Partnership Award
With this award, KiwiNet recognises that robust connections and working relationships between research organisations and businesses can be of significant commercial value to New Zealand.
Winner
Comvita and Institute for Innovation in Biotechnology – Winning Partnership
Comvita, the Institute for Innovation in Biotechnology at the University of Auckland and Comvita Innovation Limited (CIL) took out the Rudd Watts Research and Business Partnership Award at the 2015 KiwiNet Awards.
The collaboration of industry and research institute resulted in accelerated innovation in commercial research and enabled students to engage with a real question from a business, say
Mark Burgess, Director of the Institute for Innovation in Biotechnology, and Ralf Schlothauer, Chief Technical Officer of Comvita.
Comvita and Institute for Innovation in Biotechnology – Winning Partnership
Comvita, the Institute for Innovation in Biotechnology at the University of Auckland and Comvita Innovation Limited (CIL) took out the Rudd Watts Research and Business Partnership Award at the 2015 KiwiNet Awards.
The collaboration of industry and research institute resulted in accelerated innovation in commercial research and enabled students to engage with a real question from a business, say
Mark Burgess, Director of the Institute for Innovation in Biotechnology, and Ralf Schlothauer, Chief Technical Officer of Comvita.
The winners of the award were Comvita, who, along with the Institute for Innovation in Biotechnology at the University of Auckland and Comvita Innovation Limited (CIL), accelerated innovation in commercial research through a triple helix model of university, industry and government collaboration. Comvita New Zealand Limited’s Innovation team is physically co-located at the Institute for Innovation in Biotechnology at The University of Auckland and has been collaborating on various research projects with the different departments at the university for the past five years.
Learn more about Comvita in Mānuka plantation research for medical grade honey,Hunting for honey's healing power, From bees to bandages and Processing Mānuka honey.
Other finalists in this category
The Biopolymer Network (BPN) and Barnes Plastics – this collaboration has resulted in ZealaFoam™, which is a sustainable alternative to polystyrene.
Biopolymer Network and Barnes Plastics – Zealafoam
The Biopolymer Network and Barnes Plastics have combined forces to create ZealaFoam – an exciting biodegradable alternative to polystyrene.
The bio-based foam is made from corn-based polylactic acid. ZealaFoam offers sustainable possibilities for packaging, particularly for the fish and aquaculture export industries, which need fish boxes to maintain their integrity throughout a 24–48 hour period.
Scion-based scientist Stephanie Weal and Barnes Plastics General Manager Alan Brennan discuss the collaboration.
Biopolymer Network – A Collaborative Group
The Biopolymer Network is a New Zealand-based research company focused on producing bio-based products such as sustainable packaging and ingredients for industry.
The Biopolymer Network is a collaboration of three CRIs – Plant & Food Research, AgResearch and Scion. In 2015, the Biopolymer Network was nominated with a commercial partner, Barnes Plastics, for their ZealaFoam product in the KiwiNet Minter Ellison Rudd Watts Research and Business Partnership Award.
Dr Nigel Larsen, Science Group Leader at Plant & Food Research, and Steve Ranford, a senior scientist with AgResearch, explain the research focus of the Biopolymer Network.
Plant & Food Research and Zespri – together, they were able to offer a rapid and combined science and industry response to a Psa outbreak, which limited the impacts of the disease.
Plant & Food Research and Zespri – Responding to Psa
In 2010 Plant & Food Research and Zespri responded to the Psa outbreak by using their established relationships to assure scientists were quickly deployed to fight the disease.
The response saw the two companies nominated for the Minter Ellison Rudd Watts Research and Business Partnership Award at the KiwiNet Awards 2015.
Operations Manager Bryan Parkes and Business Manager Stuart Kay from Plant & Food Research explain the response to the disease and subsequent outcomes for the kiwifruit industry.
People’s Choice Award
Attendees at the KiwiNet Awards vote for the People’s Choice Award. The award allows the audience to vote for the presentation and research that most inspired them and ultimately recognises overall excellence in research commercialisation.
Winner
The winner of the People’s Choice Award was Professor Andy Buchanan (University of Canterbury) and his team for their research into timber as a structural and sustainable material for large buildings.
BNZ Supreme Award
The BNZ Supreme Award is decided by the KiwiNet Awards’ judging panel. It recognises overall excellence in all core areas of research commercialisation.
Winner
In 2015, the BNZ Supreme Award was won by Professor Andy Buchanan (University of Canterbury). Andy also won the Researcher Entrepreneur Award and the People’s Choice Award.
Activity idea
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 other winners of the Kiwinet Awards in 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Useful links
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.
Read about the BNZ Supreme Award winner Professor Andy Buchanan in this news story.
Listen to nominee Dr Ron Beatson on RNZ in the Our Changing World programme.
