The business of science

Professor David Hutchinson demonstrates a high-temperature superconducting ceramic tablet levitating above an array of magnets when it is cooled with liquid nitrogen. PHOTO: SAM HENDERSON

From Māori seafaring innovations to the early years of European settlement, technology has long had a key role in building and sustaining New Zealand’s wealth.

Investing in science and innovation can equip us with the skills to fuel a high-tech ecosystem that not only strengthens existing firms but also breeds the next generation of technological businesses.

Quantum physicist Professor David Hutchinson will speak at a Techweek event next week which will unpack how science can drive commercial growth for advanced manufacturing.

Prof Hutchinson was the inaugural director of Te Whai Ao - Dodd-Walls Centre and is the acting science leader for Quantum Technologies Aotearoa.

The centre is at the cutting edge of research into advanced technology such as lasers, cold atoms and high-temperature superconductors.

Since it was established in 2015 the centre has spun off several companies that have become successful businesses.

One example is Quantifi Photonics, born in the centre’s Auckland labs and recently sold to tech giant Teradyne for an undisclosed sum.

The company still employs about 60 staff in New Zealand.

"A lot of what we are focused on is how does science and innovation spill out into that growing high tech industry in New Zealand so that we are producing people who support that and then grow the next generation of businesses while also providing the workforce. It is trying to grow that ecosystem."

New Zealand had the talent and ideas to build a vibrant high-tech sector but investment in science was needed to train "excellent people" with the skills to drive the next level of technological business.

"The one thing I would say is that these overnight successes are usually 20 years in the making."

Prof Hutchinson sits on an OECD expert panel advising governments on quantum policy.

A revolution is coming in quantum information processing such as quantum computing and quantum sensing.

It was important to have the ability to train people locally to understand and use this technology.

"We have to be able to train people who understand how these things work, so that they can be the new, if you like, quantum algorithm programmers."

Past breakthroughs, from refrigerated meat exports in the 1880s to today’s high-tech medical devices, show how scientific innovation can reshape the economy.

"It is people that will then go on to grow things that are of economic value for our nation," Prof Hutchinson said.