Category Archives: Reviews

ABB visit – review

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A group of 30 members were hosted by Scott Styles and Nick Elliott to a visit to the impressive- looking building on the grounds of Hawke’s Bay Airport. The interior is even more impressive. Over 130 people are employed there and the company’s products, automatic voltage controllers and power supply stabilisers are exported globally.

Scott gave us a “101” on electrical power supply stabilisation and later sent us the following links:

Why is my laptop on https://waitbutwhy.com/2014/03/why-is-my-laptop-on.html

Energy for dummies is linked inside the aforementioned document.

https://waitbutwhy.com/2014/03/energy-dummies.html

ABB Videos from the presentation.

•       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQEsr8f1opU&t=137s

•       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXutErdUoso&t=17s

Scott briefly touched on arc-flash with the tour group. This is quite a scary subject.

This is why you might see the local linesman getting completely kitted up in a ‘bomb-suit’ before operating switchgear https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P35HRYHFz7c

(people continuing to search or watch video’s on youtube autoplay should be warned that there are some gruesome injuries as a result of arc-flash.)

Scott thinks that we have a problem in society with poor energy literacy combined with extreme energy dependence.

This might be part of addressing this

http://www.theperfectcurrency.org/main-energy-currency/energy-currency

And last of all here is the sole remaining video (transferred from VHS) of the model solar car that Scott built with some friends in 7thform in 1993. Had he not entered this competition Scott doubts he would have become an electrical engineer.

https://www.facebook.com/scott.styles/videos/10151698169052831/

 

Pest-free pipfruit

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The past, present and future of integrated pest management in New Zealand fruit crops (July 2017)

Dr Jim Walker, Scientist in the Pipfruit & Winegrape Entomology team at Plant & Food Research delivered an excellent lecture at the Havelock North Function Centre to mark 150 years of the Royal Society Te Apārangi.

Pests and subsequently, the use of pesticide to deal with pests, has long been a problem for the New Zealand Pip Fruit industry, especially when it sought to gain access into new, high-value export markets. However, since the mid 1990s, the work carried out by Dr Jim Walker and his team has contributed to more than a 90 per cent reduction in insecticide use (kg/ha) by local apple growers. This includes the introduction of new natural enemies through to the development of selective pest management and use of semio-chemicals (pheromones) to support greater use of biological control in apple orchards. The development and implementation of these innovative pest control tactics are now central to today’s pest management systems.

Dr Jim Walker, entomologist and Principal Scientist with Plant and Food Research, talks about this research as well as the future sustainability and biosecurity threats facing the apple industry.

About the speaker:

Plant & Food Research scientist Dr Jim Walker leads a team of researchers focused on developing innovative tools and techniques for managing pests affecting the New Zealand horticultural industry.

During his 30 year career, he has been involved in the development and introduction of the Integrated Fruit Production (IFP) programme in the New Zealand pipfruit sector. The IFP programme has resulted in the sector adopting pest monitoring, pest prediction models and alternative control methods, enabling apple growers to substantially reduce their use of pesticides.

More recently Dr Walker has been involved with development of the sector’s ‘Apple Futures’ programme, focused on meeting the demand from consumers for high quality, residue-free fruit. He has also provided crucial guidance for the application of IFP to other sectors including wine grapes, summerfruit, citrus and onions.

Hear a Radio Kidnappers interview with Jim Walker here.

Professor Peter Schwerdtfeger

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In March 2017, the Hawke’s Bay Branch hosted a visit by Distinguished Professor Peter Schwerdtfeger, Director of the Centre for Theoretical Chemistry and Physics at Massey University in Auckland. Peter made time to visit three secondary schools in the region, to talk to physics and chemistry students and their teachers about a diverse range of topics, including the newest elements in the periodic table, the composition of atoms, the fundamental forces and particles, the standard model, and the search for a unified theory. But all this was delivered with a sense of humour and infectious enthusiasm that captured his audience’s imagination and at a level that year 12 and 13 students could comprehend. As Albert Einstein said (and Peter quoted) “If you cannot explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough”.

Here are his presentation slides