Environmental winner announced
Environmental winner announced in New Zealand Innovators Awards
The winners of the New Zealand Innovators Awards 2015 have been announced, with an incredible line-up of organisations showcasing that world-class innovation is thriving in New Zealand!
Bayer New Zealand sponsors the “Innovation in Agribusiness and Environment” category, and Managing Director Holger Detje is proud to announce the winner in this category as Fibre-gen for its HITMAN PH330, an acoustic tool that sonically tests the tensile strength of a tree in its entirety before it is cut down. This allows the tree to be segregated into construction strength timber, and timber for other uses.
“One of the reasons we are so impressed by this entry is that it’s a tool that can help reduce waste as well as saving money in the timber industry,” says Detje.
“It’s fantastic that clever Kiwis are designing products like this which contribute positively to the world and help drive sustainability. It’s something we are focusing strongly on at Bayer too, and we’re thrilled that companies like Fibre-gen are developing innovative tools that help support the environment.”
Bayer is an international, research-based group with major businesses in health care and crop science. As an innovation company, it sets trends in research-intensive areas with its products and services designed to benefit people, plants and animals.
“Bayer is particularly passionate about innovation in the environmental space, so we’re very pleased to be able to sponsor this category and to see the incredible ideas that have surfaced as part of this year’s NZ Innovators Awards,” finishes Detje.
Peter Carter, the CEO of Fibre-gen, is proud to receive this accolade for a product that’s been sixteen years in the making.
“Winning this award is marvelous, and we’re thrilled that it is bringing attention to what we’re doing,” says Carter. “We’re at a pretty exciting stage now, and it’s fantastic to receive this recognition.”
All of the finalists in the NZ Innovators Awards “Innovation in Agribusiness and Environment” are listed below.
For more information or interview opportunities, please contact Alisa Keall-Grant on (09) 360 0385 or email lise@theprshop.co.nz
INNOVATION IN AGRIBUSINESS & ENVIRONMENT - Sponsored by Bayer New Zealand
WINNER
FIBRE-GEN -
HITMAN PH330 – CANTERBURY
The timber industry
is becoming increasingly automated and loses money on
milling logs that turn out to be of insufficient quality and
strength for construction purposes. The Hitman PH330 is an
acoustic tool that sonically tests the tensile strength all
the way up the tree before harvest, allowing the tree to be
segregated into construction strength timber, and timber for
other uses. This tool reduces waste and saves money in the
timber industry.
FINALISTS
HIVEMIND – REMOTE
HIVE MONITORING – CANTERBURY
Hivemind utilises
wireless technology, embedded GPS trackers and weight scales
to enable beekeepers to monitor hives remotely for theft,
yield, and ambient temperatures. Hivemind allows for
optimisation of honey harvesting in order to encourage
greater productivity and sustainability.
FARMIQ
SYSTEM – WELLINGTON
The FarmIQ System is
cloud-based farm management software that helps farmers
maintain records on sustainable land and water management,
animal health and welfare, and food safety around chemical
withholding periods. Developed in conjunction with farmers
and the beef industry, the FarmIQ System helps communicate
meat quality standards between the producers and the meat
retailers and gives greater efficiency to the farm recording
processes.
FARM MEDIX – CHECK-UP MASTITIS
DIAGNOSTIC TOOL – AUCKLAND
Mastitis (an
infection of the udder) costs farmers time and money.
Testing usually involves sending away samples to a
laboratory. CHECK-UP® is a simple-to-use, on-site mastitis
diagnostic tool that allows a farmer to identify mastitis
and target treatment more effectively. This introduces
greater efficiencies in milk production and ensures better
milk quality.
PASTORAL ROBOTICS – NITRATE
RECOVERY – AUCKLAND
Intensive farming has an
unwanted by-product, livestock urine. It creates problems
for the soil and waterways through nitrate leaching.
Pastoral Robotics have created a low-labour automated robot
that will move around paddocks, sensing and treating fresh
cow urine patches with a patented agricultural liquid
antidote, safely reducing nitrate leaching by 75%. By
treating the problem on the spot, the farmer avoids costly
indoor farming and feeding alternatives.
PLANT AND
FOOD RESEARCH – RESPONSE TO PSA –
AUCKLAND
The New Zealand kiwifruit industry was
decimated by the vine-killing pathogen ‘Psa’ five years
ago, with the popular variety Zespri® Gold being
particularly susceptible to the bacteria. Plant and Food
Research responded to this crisis by committing resources to
fast tracking the development of new, bacteria-resistant
cultivars of Zespri® Sungold. This has allowed the
kiwifruit industry to recover.
SCOTT TECHNOLOGY
– LAMB FOREQUARTER CUT AUTOMATION SYSTEM –
OTAGO
Meat processing is becoming increasingly
automated to increase labour safety and to reduce bacterial
contamination in meat products. Scott Technology have
developed a system that uses high speed laser scanning to
create a 3D model of individual carcasses, allowing the
industrial robot to accurately cut each forequarter quickly
and safely.
SNAP INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES –
GLOBAL SUSTAINABLE FISHERIES –
NELSON
Regulating the fishing industry has
always been difficult. Current systems for monitoring
catches and dumping, while at sea, are expensive, difficult
to install, and use a lot of manpower to interpret footage
from multiple camera feeds. SnapIT have developed a
low-cost, highly efficient, automated monitoring system that
uses 360-degree cameras, and wireless feeds from ships at
sea.
SUPREME BIOTECHNOLOGIES –
NELSON
Astaxanthin is a potent natural
antioxidant with many beneficial effects on human health,
and it is harvested from a type of microalgae that is
difficult to grow commercially. There is a huge demand for
astaxanthin worldwide, and Supreme Biotechnologies NZ has
developed a proprietary indoor facility. Using a
sophisticated photo bioreactor system, they produce optimal
yields of astaxanthin, which they market under their own
brand, AstaSupreme.
TERAX 2013 - TERAX WASTE CONVERSION TECHNOLOGY – BAY OF PLENTY Urban bio-waste is difficult and expensive to dispose of due to environmental and contamination issues. Terax’s waste conversion technology treats bio-waste as a recyclable resource. The cost-saving process reduces the wastewater, eliminates organic solids, sterilises them, and recovers useful components such as nitrogen and carbon for recycling.
UBCO – UBCO 2X2 – BAY OF
PLENTY
The UBCO 2x2 is an all-wheel drive
electric motorbike with rural and urban applications.
Lightweight, quiet, and with excellent handling and
performance in all terrains, the UBCO 2x2 has a huge load
capacity for carrying equipment, and its lithium batteries
can charge tools and electronic devices on site when working
remotely. All with a running cost of 60 cents per 100
kilometres.
The Awards evening will be held on
October 21st at The Cloud on Auckland’s Waterfront. Find
more information and enter at www.innovators.org.nz.
ENDS
For more information on Bayer New Zealand’s sponsorship of the New Zealand Innovator Awards, please contact Alisa Keall-Grant on (09) 360 0385 or email lise@theprshop.co.nz
Bayer:
Science For A Better Life
Bayer is a global
enterprise with core competencies in the fields of health
care and agriculture. As an innovation company, it sets
trends in research-intensive areas. Bayer’s products and
services are designed to benefit people and improve their
quality of life. At the same time, the Group aims to create
value through innovation, growth and high earning power.
Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable
development and to its social and ethical responsibilities
as a corporate citizen. In fiscal 2014, the Group employed
118,900 people and had sales of EUR 42.2 billion. Capital
expenditures amounted to EUR 2.5 billion, R&D expenses to
EUR 3.6 billion. For more information, go to www.bayer.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This
release may contain forward-looking statements based on
current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or
subgroup management. Various known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors could lead to material
differences between the actual future results, financial
situation, development or performance of the company and the
estimates given here. These factors include those discussed
in Bayer’s public reports which are available on the Bayer
website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability
whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to
conform them to future events or developments.
ENDS