Launch of the IRANZ Annual Review / New Regional Research Institutes announced / Water research round-up / Printing our way to Olympic glory / Trans-Tasman success story for bridge design / Lincoln Agritech to lead research into better grape-yield forecasting / ORCID launched in NZ /
Opus Research - Paving the way for Wellington’s smart motorway /
Prof Beasley awarded Hercus Medal for health research /
World Energy Scenarios 2016

 
Launch of the IRANZ Annual Review

IRANZ Chair Dr John Bright from Aqualinc launched IRANZ’s Annual Review on at a reception in Wellington on 24 November.  IRANZ’s eleven IROs employ over 500 staff and have combined sales of $80 million, which includes $30 million of Government research investment, $30 million of stakeholder investment, and $20 million work for clients.

The Annual Review highlights how IRANZ Independent Research Organisations (IROs) are a vital and unique part of New Zealand’s science ecosystem, they are all different and they are a great way of enabling New Zealand to increase high-impact research by business, economic sectors and the community. IROs consistently provide quality science outputs that provide high-impact results for their stakeholders and New Zealand, several examples are featured in the Annual Review. The Annual Review also gives key information on each of the IRANZ IROs.

At the Launch, Dr Bright also welcomed the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand (MRINZ) who have just joined IRANZ as our newest member. MRINZ (http://www.mrinz.ac.nz/) is an independent medical research organisation. MRINZ was established in late 2001 and since this time has become internationally recognised as one of New Zealand's major medical research organisations, publishing innovative research in high impact international journals.  He also congratulated the New Zealand Research Institute of Viticulture and Oenology (NZRIVO) in Marlborough, and the Centre for Space Science Technology (CSST) in Alexandra on their selection as the first new Regional Research Institutes (RRIs).

You can download a PDF of the Annual Review from www.iranz.org.nz/publications/publications.html

If you would like a hard copy, please email our Executive Officer, Rob Whitney on information@iranz,org.nz
New Regional Research Institutes announced

Two new Regional Research Institutes have been announced, the New Zealand Research Institute of Viticulture and Oenology (NZRIVO) and the Centre for Space Science Technology (CSST). IRANZ looks forward to welcoming them as members when they are up and running. “The Independent Research Organisation model has been adopted as a basis for the RRIs, which will be a great way of engaging businesses and local communities in strategic research,” says IRANZ Chair Dr John Bright.

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The Centre for Space Science Technology (CSST) will establish an international satellite data exchange to design, build, and launch New Zealand’s first fleet of cube satellites. Image courtesy of NASA.
Water research round-up

Several research milestones have been reported by the Cawthron Institute in the last six months, ranging from the surprising results of a marine survey of Hector’s dolphins through to a scampi farming breakthrough which has seen the tasty deep sea animals successfully raised in captivity.

A survey has revealed there are potentially twice as many Hector’s dolphins as previously thought, although around half were found far outside New Zealand’s banned trawling and set-net areas.

Cawthron scientists have also created a new computer system which uses oceanographic forecasting to produce a map of changes in water quality, similar to weather maps.

Another research team has reported some results from their investigation into what triggers toxin production in freshwater bluegreen algae as part of a three-year Marsden Fund project.

Last, but not least, the world’s first captive scampi have been raised from eggs by Cawthron Institute aquaculture scientists, taking New Zealand a step closer to establishing a scampi aquaculture sector.

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A survey has revealed potentially twice as many Hector's dolphins as previously thought. Photo: Cawthron Institute.

 

Printing our way to Olympic glory

TiDA’s spin-off company Rapid Advanced Manufacturing (RAM) printed the necessary titanium parts to help some of New Zealand’s athletes achieve Olympic glory at Rio this year.

Two of New Zealand’s 2016 Olympic teams were supported in their pursuit of the ultimate performance with new light-weight titanium parts.

RAM provided custom sailing harness parts to four-time world sailing champions and 2015 International Sailing Federation World Sailors of the Year Peter Burling and Blair Tuke for their Men’s 49er gold-medal winning campaign at the Rio Olympics.

RAM also produced handlebar extensions to support the New Zealand cycling team competing in the Rio Olympic Velodrome. The handlebar extensions were optimised for weight, aerodynamic and rider performance on the revolutionary Avanti Olympic cycles used by the cyclists.

The New Zealand's sprint trio of Ethan Mitchell, Sam Webster and Eddie Dawkins brought home the silver after missing out on the gold to Great Britain by an agonising 0.102 seconds.

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Printing for Team New Zealand Sailing; lightweight titanium trapeze harness. Photo: TiDA.
A Trans-Tasman success story for bridge design

The heavy engineering industry’s decision to harmonize bridge design with Australia has been a five-year journey that has recently seen the announcement of the first joint New Zealand and Australian design standard for steel and composite bridges DR AS/NZS 5100.6 now available for public comment.

Chaired by the Heavy Engineering Research Association’s (HERA) Structural Systems General Manager, Dr Stephen Hicks, DR AS/NZS 5100.6 provides greater alignment with international best practice and, in some cases, significant improvements for HERA’s members involved in bridge infrastructure projects.

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The Cambridge Bypass composite bridge. Photo: HERA
Lincoln Agritech to lead research into better grape-yield forecasting

Six-million dollars has been secured to fund the research and development of a new tool to assist New Zealand’s wine industry with better grape-yield forecasting. Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce recently announced that the initiative will be funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) 2016 Endeavour Fund.

The five-year programme, which is co-funded by New Zealand Winegrowers, will be led by Lincoln Agritech in partnership with Lincoln University, Plant and Food Research, University of Canterbury and CSIRO (Australia).

“The new research programme aims to develop a tool to deliver much more accurate yield estimations,” says Dr Simon Hooker, New Zealand Winegrowers General Manager of Research and Innovation. “This will benefit the industry by supporting better crop management, smoother processing and market forecasting based on capacity to supply.”

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Dr Simon Hooker, New Zealand Winegrowers General Manager of Research and Innovation. Image: NZ Winegrowers.

 

ORCID launched in NZ

The New Zealand ORCID consortium was launched on 13 October at the Royal Society in Wellington. Dr Laurel Haak, Executive Director of ORCID, based in the United States, explained to a science community audience how ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) provides a unique identification for scientists, which can be automatically updated as research is published. The New Zealand ORCID Consortium will be hosted by the Royal Society of New Zealand.  IRANZ are one of the sponsoring organisations and ten out of 34 foundation members are Independent Research Organisations.

Increasing investment in the New Zealand science and innovation system has increased the need to better understand and demonstrate system results and impacts, increase transparency, and improve access to data.  As part of this initiative MBIE have chaired the ORCID NZ working group and will be funding the consortium.

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Dr Laurel Haak, Executive Director of ORCID. Photo: Dr Rob Whitney, IRANZ.
Opus Research - Paving the way for Wellington’s smart motorway

Surfacing of Wellington’s new smart motorway was recently completed using a novel long-life asphalt developed at Opus Research in partnership with Fulton Hogan for the New Zealand Transport Agency. This is the first time the epoxy modified open-graded porous asphalt (OGPA) has been used in Wellington and will provide a quieter ride into and out of the city.

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Wellington's new smart motorway was completed using a novel long-life asphalt developed at Opus Research. Photo: Lindsay Keats, Opus Research.

Prof Beasley awarded Hercus Medal for health research

Professor Richard Beasley, Director of the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand, has been awarded the Sir Charles Hercus Medal by the Royal Society of New Zealand for his wide ranging contributions to advancing respiratory medicine and health science research in New Zealand, which have had a major impact on clinical practice and public health.

Professor Beasley established and is Director of the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand (MRINZ). An independent medical research organisation, it is the latest member of IRANZ and has research programmes in a wide range of areas including, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), stroke, fever, oxygen therapy, and intensive care medicine, with a high output of publications.

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Professor Richard Beasley, Director of the Medical Research Institute of New Zealand.

World Energy Scenarios 2016

IRANZ Executive Officer Rob Whitney was part of a World Energy Council (WEC) team that developed three 2060 energy scenarios. Their report was launched in October at the World Energy Congress in Istanbul. The report ‘World Energy Scenarios 2016: The Grand Transition’ presents three exploratory scenarios – Modern Jazz, Unfinished Symphony, and Hard Rock.  In the report WEC warns us that the future will be different. Disruptive trends are emerging that will create a fundamentally new world for the energy industry, characterised by lower population growth, radical new technologies, greater environmental challenges, and a shift in economic and geopolitical power.

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Cover of the World Energy Scenarios 2016: The Grand Transition
 
IRANZ
WHO WE ARE

IRANZ is an association of independent research organisations. Its members undertake scientific research, development or technology transfer. Members include Aqualinc Research Ltd, BRANZ, Cawthron Institute, CRL Energy Ltd, Heavy Engineering Research Association (HERA), Leather & Shoe Research Association (LASRA), Lincoln Agritech Ltd, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research, Opus Research, Titanium Industry Development Association Ltd (TiDA Ltd) and Transport Engineering Research NZ Ltd (TERNZ).

Contact: Dr Rob Whitney, Executive Officer, mobile: +64 27 2921050, email: information@iranz.org.nz

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