Head of innovative global tech incubator in Lower Hutt

HUTT CITY COUNCIL NEWS RELEASE

29 November 2016
Head of innovative global tech incubator in Lower Hutt this week

The global director of a wildly successful American workshop and studio for innovators, entrepreneurs and inventors is visiting Lower Hutt this week with the prospect of bringing it to New Zealand.

TechShop, which has been praised by United States President Barack Obama, has grown in 10 years to 10 locations in the US and partnered with universities, corporations and companies.

Some of its most successful projects that began life at TechShop include a prototype mobile payment device called Square. Today Square is valued at US$6 billion and revolutionised peer-to-peer transactions.

One user took a handful of TechShop classes and used the skills gained to build a prototype of a luxury iPad case. Within 90 days he had sold US$1 million in product.

Two TechShop users created Embrace, a portable infant incubation blanket. Using TechShop’s resources they increased the blanket’s incubation period from 1 hour to 4-5 hours. The blanket has now saved the lives of more than 87,000 babies in Third World countries.

The TechShop concept has been picked up in Paris and United Arab Emirates. TechShop CEO Paul Duggan is visiting Lower Hutt, which has a long history of innovation in science, technology and manufacturing, to work with Hutt City Council and local businesses on the possibility of setting up New Zealand’s first TechShop in the city.

TechShop provides an affordable do-it-yourself workshop and prototyping studio for designers, engineers and makers of all descriptions, ages and skill levels. It gives access to a wide range of tools, equipment and resource and is membership-based and flexible, so members can use the workshop for a day or two, or longer for lengthy projects.

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