Agri-tech research impresses top Chinese officials

Innovative agri-tech research impresses top Chinese officials

World-leading research aimed at improving productivity and health in the agricultural sector was the focus of a visit from top level Chinese government officials to the University of Auckland last week.

Led by Vice Minister Jun Han, the delegation - which included representatives from Hong Kong-based charity the Li Ka Shing Foundation and the Horizons Digital Group – were keen to see the application of technology to agriculture first hand, and to discuss how universities and industry can work more closely together.

Advanced laser technology that can sex bull semen, (Engender) and a diagnostic tool which accurately analyses the components of an individual cow’s milk in real time, ‘in the shed’ (Orbis), were among the University-based projects showcased by award-winning scientist Associate Professor Cather Simpson.

Based at the School of Chemical Sciences in the Department of Physics, Dr Simpson has combined her specific expertise in lasers and photonics - an area of study that involves the use of radiant energy (such as light) - with an entrepreneurial interest which has resulted in significant commercial partnerships between the University and business over the past six years.

She showed the Chinese group around her Photon Factory lab in the University’s Science precinct, explained how the Engender and Orbis technology works and introduced the research teams developing the projects.

Engender was the winner of the Silicon Valley Forum World Tech Cup Challenge this year and Cather Simpson won this year’s supreme award at the 2016 Kiwinet Research Commercialisation Awards.

At the Auckland Bioengineering Institute, leading researcher Associate Professor Andrew Taberner introduced the needle-less injection – liquid drugs that can be injected through the skin without the use of needles, using the principle of jet injection.

Dr Vinod Suresh showcased ‘rumen modelling’ (a computer programme that describes the physical processing of feed in the ‘rumen’ or four-chambered stomach of a cow) and Dr Harvey Ho presented the ‘Bovine Atlas’, the 3D mapping of animal carcasses particularly useful in optimising meat processing.

The group finished their visit with a discussion on dairy goat genetics with Professor Russell Snell from the School of Biological Sciences, while Mark Burgess (Institute for Innovation in Biotechnology) introduced the IIB model and chaired presentations from several of the current IIB co-locators.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Jim Metson, who hosted the visit, says the delegation went away highly impressed with what they’d seen, full of new ideas and a plan for further cooperation between China and New Zealand on commercialising innovative research, especially in the area of agriculture.

“We were delighted to host such a distinguished delegation and I’m confident discussions will continue as to what we can learn from each other at this increasingly important interface between excellent research and commercialisation,” he says.

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