UC engineer wins KiwiNet emerging innovator award

UC engineer wins KiwiNet emerging innovator award

A University of Canterbury academic has jointly won the emerging innovator award at the 2016 KiwiNet Awards that showcase the clever science driving business innovation in New Zealand.

UC senior lecturer in Chemical and Process Engineering Dr Daniel Holland was among the 12 innovative researchers and research commercialisation projects selected as finalists for the fourth annual KiwiNet Research Commercialisation Awards, designed to celebrate commercialisation success coming from New Zealand’s universities and Crown Research Institutes.

Winners were announced at a reception in Auckland last night.

Dr Holland was one of three finalists in the Emerging Innovator category, which recognises an upcoming entrepreneurial researcher who is making outstanding contributions to business innovation or is creating innovative businesses in New Zealand through technology licencing, start-up creation or by providing expertise to support business innovation.

Dr Holland has a strong track record of applying novel measurement and mathematical analysis techniques to improve efficiency in the chemical industries. He graduated with a BEng from the University of Canterbury. Since completing his PhD in Chemical Engineering at the University of Cambridge in 2006, he has worked with major international companies as well as specialist technology companies, after which he returned to the University of Canterbury and is currently a senior lecturer in the College of Engineering’s Chemical and Process Engineering department.

Measurement techniques he developed for Oil and Gas Measurement in the United Kingdom led to the production of a new sampling product to measure the water distribution in flows of oil and water. Since returning to New Zealand in 2015, he has actively pursued opportunities to drive business innovation within New Zealand companies, building on his overseas success.

He has recently established a new programme of research with Magritek, a developer of cryogen-free, compact Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) systems that work on the benchtop. He is also working with Eko360, a company specialising in innovative environmental products for growing plants, and seeks to use a mathematical model and novel measurements to rapidly prototype controlled release fertilisers.

Cost-effective controlled release fertilisers have the potential to improve nutrient use efficiency especially with nitrogen fertilisers. The outcome being greater agricultural productivity while reducing leaching from the dairy and forestry sectors in New Zealand and internationally.

KiwiNet Norman F. B. Barry Foundation Emerging Innovator Award joint winners are:

• Dr Daniel Holland, University of Canterbury: Mathematics plus measurements equals economic benefit

• Dr Carla Meledandri, University of Otago and The MacDiarmid Institute: Harnessing silver nanoparticles to treat and prevent dental disease

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