28 Aug 2018 Rutherford lecture: The Life and Times of Supervolcanoes

Tuesday 28 August at 6pm

Ballroom, Napier Conference Centre, Marine Parade Napier

Professor Colin Wilson FRS FRSNZ Victoria University of Wellington

2017 Rutherford Medal winner for research into understanding large, explosive supervolcanoes and the hazards they pose.

All Welcome. Free Admission. Please register: royalsociety.org.nz/events

Aotearoa New Zealand sits astride the Indo-Australian and Pacific tectonic plates and is subject to tremendous natural forces. Usually experienced as earthquakes, Kiwis also need to keep in mind that Lake Taupō was created by the world’s most violent volcanic eruption within the last 50,000 years! Colin Wilson has gathered many accolades for studying volcanoes, and in particular, supervolcanoes. He likens his work to that of a crime scene investigator, piecing together the dual puzzle of why such cataclysmic explosions occur and why they are joined by much smaller eruptions. His aim is to forecast volcanic phenomena with enough warning so that communities can respond. But although Colin is digging deep in the Earth’s crust to find the triggering mechanisms, volcanic systems are not letting their secrets go easily…

This nationwide tour is proudly presented in partnership with

6 Sep 2018 The Theory and Practice of Culinary Arts

Thursday 6 September 2018 at 6.00pm

Mark Caves, Culinary Arts Tutor, EIT 

Venue: Scholars Restaurant, EIT Taradale

Cost: $35 per head for a 4 course meal
Cash bar
No BYO
Pay at door

We have booked the restaurant, seating 60, exclusively for this event. Level 4 student Chefs will prepare our meal.

First come, first served; non-members welcome.

Book your places now with an email to: secretary@hawkesbay.rsnzbranch.org.nz

As the restaurant needs to know in advance, please advise of any special dietary requirements (e.g. vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free) when you make your booking

 

Mark started his career in a five star resort in Noosa, Queensland in 1990 and went on to cook in a fine dining seafood restaurant in Sydney and an Australian ski chalet, before returning to Napier. He has been teaching Culinary Arts at EIT since 1999. Mark has a passion for teaching people the craft of cooking, enjoys using the high quality produce available in Hawke’s Bay and introducing his students to modern trends in gastronomy.

Whilst loving to teach the artisan crafts of bread, charcuterie, fermentation & cheese making, Mark also delivers programmes on modernist molecular gastronomy. He has built 2 wood-fired pizza ovens from the ground up and the third is in the planning stage!

Mark has implemented E-portfolios for level 5 chef students, entailing the use of ICT tools, food photography, social media, capturing video and posting online.

In his down time Mark consults to UNESCO developing and designing Occupational standards, Curriculum and teaching and learning material for the hospitality sector. In this role he has completed three trips to Iraq, helping re-build the hospitality sector destroyed in the long war against ISIS. At the same time, he has brought back inspiration for dishes prepared back in NZ, including at this year’s Hawke’s Bay F.A.W.C. event

9 Aug 2018 How do you go from a physics lab to Rocket Lab?

Thursday 9 August 2018 at 6pm

Magadalinos Room
Havelock North Function Centre
30 Te Mata Rd.

MacDiarmid Science: From the lab to the marketplace

ASSOCIATE PROF. BEN RUCK

Ben researches electronic devices for the next generation of supercomputers and data centres, and is involved with wider educational, environmental and commercialisation impacts of nanotechnology.

DR. HARRY WARRING

Harry is a Test Engineer for Rocket Lab, working on the electron programme, from development through to launch of New Zealand’s first orbital rocket earlier this year.

Rocket image is courtesy of Rocket Lab Ltd.

18 Jul 2018 Electric vehicles – international trends and innovation

Wednesday 18 July 2018 at 6.00pm

Lecture Theatre 1, EIT, Taradale

Nigel Purdy, Manager – Innovation Delivery, Unison Networks

Debbie Vanderschyff , Sales Specialist, EV Infrastructure, ABB

Admission: Gold coin donation

This presentation will be in two parts.

In the first half, Nigel from Unison will give some background to the current growth of electric vehicles using facts and trends.

In the second, Debbie will describe ABB’s latest technology and some case studies around success stories happening in the rest of the world.

A Question and Answer session will follow, and there will be EVs on display (possibly even a Tesla X)!

                                                              

Urban restoration ecology: building forests in the city

Tuesday 3 July 2018 at 6.00pm

Lecture Theatre 1, EIT, Taradale

Kiri Wallace PhD.
Research Officer,
Environmental Research Institute, University of Waikato

Admission: Gold coin donation

Planting of native species to restore forest in urban centres is an important conservation activity that has been gaining momentum in New Zealand for over 40 years. Early projects were few in number, largely isolated from each other, and weren’t based on scientific knowledge. In contrast, today’s urban forest restoration projects are numerous, increasingly linked by conservation networks and knowledgeable communities, and are often on the cutting-edge of our ecological understanding.

The People Cities and Nature programme facilitates research addressing the demand for new information on best practice in urban ecological restoration. We are studying plantings throughout nine New Zealand cities to better understand the requirements for efficiency and success of restoration efforts of city councils and community groups.

Come along to hear about this scientific research and see a snapshot of the data collected so far in Napier’s very own restored urban forests.

Kiri has had an interest in biology since childhood. After high school she completed a BSc. in animal science and a masters in wildlife ecology at the University of Delaware in the United States, receiving afterwards a full research assistantship to study the integration of biological control and native plant seeding as a method for forest restoration and gain her Masters degree. In 2013 she was awarded the University of Waikato Doctoral Scholarship and moved to New Zealand to study her PhD on urban forest restoration ecology. During the course of her doctoral work here she has received several scholarships and awards, including the University of Waikato Top Achiever Award.

Digital breaths: The benefits of bioengineering

6pm Wednesday 20 June


EIT, 501 Gloucester St, Taradale,  Lecture Theatre LTH1
Free admission
Register to guarantee your seat at: royalsociety.org.nz/events


Professor Merryn Tawhai

Director MedTech CoRE & Dep. Director Auckland Bioengineering Institute

An aging population and increase in people living with chronic disease calls for new approaches to reduce healthcare costs and improve patient outcomes. Recent advances in imaging, sensor, and communications technologies, combined with innovative bioengineering approaches, has the potential to revolutionise healthcare.

Does New Zealand have the capability to become a world leader in this industry?

Merryn’s own research advances computer modelling of the human lung in search of better methods to diagnose and treat lung disease.

Proudly presented in partnership with the Auckland Bioengineering Institute of the University of Auckland and the Medical Technologies Centre of Research Excellence.

Branch AGM and lecture: Do animals experience happiness and why does it matter?

Thursday 14 June 2018

Lecture Theatre 2, EIT, Taradale

5.30pm: AGM Hawke’s Bay Branch, Royal Society Te Apārangi

6.00pm: Do animals experience happiness and why does it matter?

Professor Nat Waran, Executive Dean – Faculty of Education, Humanities and Health Science, EIT

Admission: Gold coin donation

Until recently, animal welfare assessment relied on measures of physical health, and changes in behaviour and physiology related to negative emotional states such as pain and stress. However, it is now widely accepted that good welfare is not simply the absence of disease or negative experiences, but also the presence of positive experiences such as pleasure. Understanding what good welfare is, how welfare can be assessed across a range of environments and uses, and what needs to be done to achieve higher welfare, is considered to be a key priority for ensuring the welfare of animals in their interactions with humans.

Before joining EIT, Nat led a number of strategic projects in her most recent role as a professor and inaugural director of the new International Centre for Animal Welfare Education at the University of Edinburgh, one of the UK’s leading universities. From 2006 to 2011, she was Associate Dean (Research) at Unitec’s Faculty of Social and Health Sciences in tandem with her role as Head of the School of Natural Sciences.

Nat has a first class zoology degree from Glasgow University and a PhD from Cambridge University, and has worked in many different countries including China, India and Malaysia.

2018 Leonard Cockayne Lecture: Ornamental to detrimental; the invasion of New Zealand by non-native plants

6pm Thursday 10 May 2018

Hawke’s Bay EIT, 501 Gloucester St, Taradale Lecture Theatre LTH1

See the video of the lecture

Professor Philip Hulme FRSNZ

Bio-Protection Research Centre Chair in Plant Biosecurity, Lincoln University

Aotearoa has more types of non-native plants than almost anywhere else in the world. It was believed that such non-natives would never pose a risk to our native flora, but many of these introduced species are now causing significant economic and environmental costs. Philip explores New Zealand’s history of plant invasions and examines the underlying causes and potential future trends. Some of these invasive plants have been introduced as commercial crops such as pine and pasture grasses, while others arrived as ornamentals from around the world for both home and botanic gardens. Could invasive plants and non-native weeds choke our country? What are the tools to control these current and future flora threats?

Presented by Royal Society Te Aparangi in partnership with the Bio-Protection Research Centre.

Visit to Mr Apple Packhouse, Whakatu

Date: Wednesday 2 May, 5.30pm

Venue: Mr Apple packhouse, Station Road, Whakatu (entrance is adjacent to the Horti Centre)

Admission: 40 people maximum, members take priority

To secure your place, please email: hawkesbay.rsnz@gmail.com

Mr Apple is the biggest apple marketer in Hawke’s Bay, producing and exporting 25% of the New Zealand apple crop. They manage 53 Global-Gap accredited orchards, on over 1,000 hectares of Hawke’s Bay land. They apply cutting edge science and technology to growing, harvesting, grading, packing and storing apples, to maximise product quality and shelf life.

We will be hosted by Packhouse Logistics & Production Planning Manager Rob Sykes and packhouse staff, for a presentation on the business and a packhouse tour. We’ll learn about the application of science, technology and engineering in the business.

Please note the dress code:

  • flat (i.e. no heels), close fitting (i.e. not loose fitting ballet-type), fully closed-in shoes
  • tie back long hair
  • remove all jewellery and watches; only a plain wedding band and medic-alert bracelet are permitted
  • Mr Apple will provide hair nets, hi vis and hearing protection.