Sir Ian (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Pahauwera) has been awarded the Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers’ (SMPTE) global progress medal for his decades-long leadership and technological innovation in animation and sports production.
Previous winners of the progress medal include Walt Disney (1940) and Ray M Dolby (1983). It is not awarded every year.
Sir Ian founded technology and animation company Animation Research Ltd, known for its work in computer-generated imagery and virtual reality applications, in 1990.
He was proud the company’s sports division, Virtual Eye, was a sports graphics company people had never heard of — "because our clients’ stories have always been more important to us than our own".
"I come in here every day and am blown away by what they do and I’ve done that for 35 years.
"That excitement has never dimmed, not because of me, but because of what I see happening here."
He initially thought an email telling him of the award was a scam and it was a "remarkable" feeling when he realised it was legitimate.
The medal also recognised Dunedin, he said.
"I don’t think I could have done this anywhere else."
"There’s a Māori saying, a Māori whakatauki, which in English is, ‘the footsteps we lay down in our past create the paving stones of where we stand today’.
"And in that Māori world view, the footsteps are always in front of us, so we always see out there."
Virtual Eye’s success was an example of that kaupapa, which the city should continue to embrace, Sir Ian said.
"Because I think one of the reasons we may have got this award was when you look at what we’ve done, nearly all of it is a world first, and it came out of the city of firsts.
"All of the acknowledgments and awards, I’ve just been the luckiest person on the planet to be in the right place at the right time.
"The one that gets to stand out the front and say thanks. But I’m saying thanks for all of us."
SMPTE Oceania chairman Paul Whybrow said Sir Ian was "a humble leader" and a great supporter of the organisation’s Oceania branch.
"We feel so proud that an innovator from the Oceania region can make such a global impact for sports fans over decades."
Sir Ian’s award was recognised in Sydney last night and he will be given the award in October at the SMPTE Media Technology Summit in Pasadena, California.
