Category Archives: Coming Events

Tuesday 7 July 2020: Horticulture trends in The Netherlands and Belgium 2020

Tuesday 7 July 2020 at 6:00 PM

EIT Taradale, Lecture Theatre 1
Dr. Nicolette Niemann

In January 2020 a group of representatives from the New Zealand horticultural industries, government, research and education went on an Executive International Horticultural Program (Exec IHIP) tour through The Netherlands and Belgium, ending at the Fruit Logistica trade fair in Berlin.  The aim was to learn about the horticultural priorities on which Europe is focusing, and how different regions adapt to those requirements.  Europe is focusing on the environment, cooperation and what the consumer wants.  We quickly realised that New Zealand is a small player on the world stage, but that our produce is highly regarded and that we have to work hard to remain at the forefront of quality and innovation which gives us a leading edge in many markets. We discovered trends and policies that will change the way that we will grow and sell produce, and interact with the rest of the world.   Many lively discussions took place during our travels, and Brexit along with COVID-19 were big features during the trip.  The Exec IHIP tour is planned to become an annual event, to generate a pool of strategic thinkers in New Zealand to help us make the best decisions for our future in horticulture.  
Dr Nicolette Niemann is a postharvest physiology scientist at The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited. Her research focuses on understanding and manipulating the chemical reactions that take place in produce after it has been harvested.  Her passion is to minimise the losses of produce from farm to fork, with a speciality in the storage of fresh fruits.  She has regular interactions with growers, packhouses and exporters in the Hawke’s Bay area and does research for service providers in the horticultural industry.  Although a large part of her work focuses on apples, she has experience working on kiwifruit, summerfruit, tomatoes, onions and cut flowers.

Wednesday 5 August 2020: Buildings That Teach: Influencing Sustainable Values

Wednesday 5 August 2020 at 5:30pm

EIT Taradale, Lecture Theatre 1
Dr. Mazin Bahho, Senior Lecturer, EIT

This presentation is about a research project that discusses the process of retrofitting an existing structure to become an exhibit as a sustainable building and a facility that inspires responsible environmental behaviour in the community. It involves a dis-used log cabin at the Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT), Napier, which was previously used as a staff office space for the Arts Programme and an artist-in-residence living space. The building is also located on a site that has strong historic, cultural, and spiritual associations with local Māori. Today, the previously abandoned cabin is an eco-friendly, sustainable building with insulation, double-glazed windows, solar panels, water storage and a wastewater treatment system.

Mazin’s research discusses how to create a brief for this specific building, given the wide, and sometimes conflicting, body of knowledge about how a sustainable building should be. During this process, he used qualitative and interpretive research strategies. Then the project was offered to a group of Second Year Design students at EIT as part of the Design Studio course. This involved setting design criteria for an exemplary sustainable building. The presentation also discusses how the eventually selected sustainability criteria were adopted.

Dr. Mazin Bahho completed his M Sc Degree in Architecture from the University of Baghdad in 1987, also with distinction, specialising in Modular Design. Before immigrating to New Zealand in 1995, he worked as an architect in Iraq, Jordan, and the UK in fields of architectural design practice, observation, planning, site residency, shop-drawings, documentation, and supervision of a wide range of projects: residential, commercial, cultural, and educational. He established his own architectural practice in Baghdad from 1991 – 1994. Mazin was involved in a number of architectural competitions and achieved success and honourable awards.

Mazin moved onto complete his Ph.D. with the Victoria University of Wellington. Mazin was the Programme Coordinator for EIT’s Visual Arts and Design Programme from 2009 – 2011. He is passionate about investigating the qualities of living spaces to visualise and construct design solutions and the issues of human habitation with a focus on ecology and culture. His investigations aim is to provide a workable model that can potentially influence attitudes to spatial design within the community.

Royal Society Te Apārangi videos

Courtesy of the Royal Society Te Apārangi, here are some videos of past lectures. Simply click on any of the images below to watch the lecture

‘What’s really inside your medicine cabinet?’ was a public lecture presented by Professor Dame Carol Robinson in Christchurch on Friday 16 March 2018

‘Climate change: stormy weather ahead’, a public lecture presented by Prof. Jim Skea in Wellington on 21 March 2018

‘Human longevity: myths and possibilities!’ is a talk presented by British gerontologist Professor Sarah Harper, founder of the Oxford Institute of Population Ageing, with introductions from Professor John Windsor FRSNZ.

Is New Zealand becoming a world leader in the bioengineering industry? 
Professor Merryn Tawhai, Director of MedTech CoRE, examines our capabilities in this field, and also shows the progress of her own research, modelling the human lung with its implications for healthcare.

The 2018 Rutherford Lecture ‘super tour’ was presented by the 2017 Rutherford Medal winner Professor Colin Wilson FRS FRSNZ who delivered his lecture at 22 locations across New Zealand.

‘Energy: what’s possible, what’s not’ with Professor Daniel Nocera (USA).

Patterson Rockwood Professor of Energy at Harvard University, Professor Daniel Nocera presented this lecture at Royal Society Te Apārangi on 20 February 2018, thanks to The MacDiarmid Institute.

A pioneer in energy conversion, particularly on the generation of solar fuels, Daniel talks about developing his inventions, the Artificial Leaf, which harnesses solar power to split water molecules into hydrogen fuel, and subsequently, the Bionic Leaf, in the hope that these inventions can become affordable energy sources to those in poverty.

Videos of Royal Society lectures

Here are some of the lectures hosted by Hawke’s Bay Branch that have been videoed (with thanks to Wayne Dobson of EIT), and also videos of events hosted by other branches of the Royal Society.

Wellington Branch of the Royal Society, Hudson Lecture 2019
By Prof. Tony Ward, Victoria University of Wellington

It was our pleasure to present the Hudson Lecture, of the Wellington Branch of the Royal Society, on the 14th August. This year the lecture was by Prof. Tony Ward  “Theoretical illiteracy and therapeutic dead ends: lessons from forensic and correctional practice”. 
The classification and explanation of crime is important for research and practice. The categorization of problems associated with crime sets explanatory targets, underpins predictive models, and ideally provides clinicians with a rich description of offending groups and their various difficulties. Dynamic risk factors and offence type categories are the fundamental constructs in this work and structure forensic practice and guide rehabilitation policy throughout the world. However, in my view there are serious theoretical problems with these two constructs which adversely impact on their utility. Continued reliance on them is stifling the field and is rapidly leading to theoretical dead ends, fragmented practice, and disappointing rehabilitation outcomes. In this talk, I present new ways of formulating DRF and classifying crime and its related problems in the forensic and correctional domains. I demonstrate how these theoretical innovations can lead to better explanatory theories, and more targeted interventions.
Professor Tony Ward, School of Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington, has primarily researched forensic and correctional topics, prominently centered on violent and sexual offenders and rehabilitation. His theoretical contributions have resulted in substantial empirical research projects and innovations in treatment around the world. Tony is the developer of the “Good Lives Model” for the rehabilitation of offenders. He has taught clinical and forensic psychology at the universities of Melbourne, Canterbury, and Deakin and is a professorial fellow at the Universities of Birmingham, Kent, and Portsmouth. He has authored more than 400 academic publications. Tony was made a Fellow of Royal Society Te Apārangi in 2018.
Cheese, platinum and fundamental constants – what is the revision of the SI all about?
By Annette Koo, Measurement Standards Laboratory of New Zealand (MSL)
Worldwide agreement on units of measurement has brought us freedom to trade and innovate, as well as supported improved wellbeing and trust. This talk will describe why are we changing things now and what the revision of the International System of Units promises for the future. In particular, the redefinition of the kelvin away from the triple of point of water will be described, including the measurements contributing to the final value of Boltzmann’s constant and the ongoing implementation of the temperature scale.
Annette completed a physics PhD through Victoria University in 2005 and then spent 3 years in Melbourne as a postdoctoral fellow at CSIRO and then at Monash University doing research into catalysts for solar hydrogen generation. In 2008 she started at Measurement Standards Laboratory of New Zealand (MSL) as a research scientist, developing expertise in the measurement of light and human perception, including design of MSL’s robot-based goniospectrophotometer and piloting the CCPR comparison of spectral transmittance. Annette is now a Principal Research Scientist with MSL.