FRSTNews
October 2008

From the Chief Executive

As our research organisations and researchers are only too well aware there have been significant changes in the way the Foundation’s funding of public science over the last few years has taken place.

We are conscious that during this time we have continued to use existing contestable processes as far as possible, “tweaked” to achieve their slightly different objectives, while introducing the negotiated processes. We are aware of the stresses that this has imposed on research organisations and especially on key researchers.

Some of the things we do in our investment processes are clearly not the best or most efficient for what we are trying to achieve so with this in mind we have commenced a stocktake of our investment processes with an eye to simplifying them. Some of you have already been involved – for others that pleasure is still to come.

Further details of this process are included inside this newsletter and we appreciate your assistance in this important work, from which a simplified process will arise.

Research funding - Businesses

Since our last newsletter we have launched our revamped TechNZ product with its simplified focus on either projects or building skills to enhance research and technology.

Over the past month or so the Foundation? has commenced working with its newly appointed TechNZ partners. These organisations – listed later in this newsletter – are key players in assisting us to work with companies on a broader base than the Foundation can manage on its own. They are critical “eyes and ears” on the ground and will welcome interaction with businesses interested in thinking about R & D.

Chief Science Advisor role

Stocktake of the Foundation’s core investment processes

In 2004, the Foundation began shifting from being a passive funder of research to an investor of government funds to deliver positive outcomes for New Zealand. To achieve this shift, we initiated a number of changes to our internal structures and processes. In 2006 the first stage of the Stable Funding Environment was introduced. This represented a big adjustment to the system, and to the Foundation. We are now embarking on phase two of Stable Funding.

As we continue to move the science funding system towards longer-term negotiated investment, the Foundation wishes to ensure that its own internal systems and processes are efficient and effective in supporting the sector in its dealings with the Foundation. Thus over the next few years we intend to ensure that we have simplified end-to-end investment processes in place.

To help to identify areas for improvement, the Foundation has decided to undertake a stocktake of its core investment processes. The purpose is to identify if there are opportunities for streamlining and simplifying our processes. The stocktake recognises the concern in the sector about the perceived complexity of the funding system and the processes involved. It also reflects the Foundation’s strategic goal to ensure that our end-to-end investment processes are both efficient and effective.

The specific objectives of the stocktake are to:
a) Identify the nature of any issues with our investment processes, and identify opportunities for simplification and improvement
b) Recommend a programme of action and/or further work to address the issues identified.

The initial focus of the stocktake is on our contracting processes within our core public good processes. This includes the full investment process, from investment signals, concepts, and proposals through to contracting, contract management and reporting.

The process simplification stocktake will cover both:
Strategic level improvements – this is about effectiveness of our investment processes – are we doing the right things? It will include higher level questions such as, do we have concept rounds, do we have overbidding rules, are there opportunities for scheme rationalisation?

Transaction level improvements – this will look at opportunities to amend the current system and make things run smoother, for example, annual reporting, portal enhancements, rolling calendar of activities, better documentation and consistent nomenclature. The focus at this level is on efficiency of the processes.

It does not include our on demand? funding, or the new initiatives included in the second phase of the Stable Funding Environment, although we will consider what has worked well with previous Stable Funding initiatives and Outcome Based Investment processes.

Key steps in the stocktake process are as follows:
Phase One – Information Gathering
Phase Two – Collation and Analysis
Phase Three – Reporting Stocktake Findings.

The stocktake will gather ideas and views from both Foundation staff, clients and stakeholders.

The key deliverables from the stocktake will be:
• a high level summary of the issues and improvement opportunities identified – both strategic and transactional, and
• an agreed programme of work designed to address the issues identified and/or undertake further review of the issues where appropriate.

The initial high level stocktake and issues identification is to be completed by mid October. Further work and the timeframes for that work will be determined after the initial stocktake has been completed and the next steps agreed.

Stable Funding – moving into phase two: the 3-5 year plan

Foundation - MAF partnership for climate change research

The Foundation and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry have formed a partnership for new research into climate change for the land based sectors.

The partnership will provide $4.6 million funding this financial year for research in the agricultural and forestry sectors, including adapting to climate change, reducing agricultural emissions, enhancing forest sinks, and cross-sectoral issues such as the economics and social sciences related to climate change. The partnership represents the second phase of research under the Sustainable Land Management and Climate Change Plan of Action.

The agencies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the deal, which sees the Foundation administering the funding of eligible projects on MAF’s behalf.

Foundation Chief Executive Murray Bain said this relationship will ensure greater integration and effective utilisation of New Zealand’s research capability in these key sectors at a time of global change.

“This strategic investment relationship with MAF is the first step in the development of our long term objective to develop ‘premium’ partnerships with Government Ministries, local government and sectors for the benefit of New Zealand’s environment and economy.”

MAF Director General Murray Sherwin said the partnership would help benefit the agriculture and forestry sectors by drawing on the skills and experience of both agencies.

“Climate change is an issue that goes to the heart of the agricultural and forestry sectors, and there isn’t a silver bullet for cutting emissions. By working together, we hope to draw together the collective skills and networks of both agencies to attract the strongest and most valuable proposals for research into tackling climate change in New Zealand. ”

Foundation website satisfaction survey

TechNZ Partners provide regional assistance

• Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Commerce - 03 366 5096 cecc@technz.co.nz
• Dunedin City Council - 03 474 3509 dcc@technz.co.nz
• Enterprise North Shore - 09 414 1341 enterprisenorthshore@technz.co.nz
• Enterprising Manukau - 09 262 2244 enterprisingmanukau@technz.co.nz
• Grow Wellington - 04 382 0099 growwellington@technz.co.nz
• Innovation Waikato - 07 838 4309 innovationwaikato@technz.co.nz
• Hawkes Bay Inc - 06 834 1918 hbinc@technz.co.nz
• Vision Manawatu - 06 350 1830 visionmanawatu@technz.co.nz
• Venture Taranaki - 06 759 5150 venturetaranaki@technz.co.nz

Postgraduate career seminars

• Dunedin November 7
• Christchurch November 17
• Wellington November 10
• Palmerston North November 5
• Hamilton November 6
• Auckland November 19

While timetables are still being finalised, the seminars will provide attendees with the chance to hear about funding available, get advice from professionals on advancing their research, receive information on entering next year’s MacDiarmid awards and take part in a roundtable discussion with their peers on career opportunities in science.

Support for Māori research and innovation

Five researchers working on projects with the potential to boost New Zealand’s bank of scientific knowledge and enhance Māori involvement in new areas of study have been awarded Te Tipu Pūtaiao Fellowships? from the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology.

The successful fellows are: Amelia Geary (Victoria University of Wellington), Darnell Kennedy (University of Otago), Anne-Marie Jackson (University of Otago), Stephanie Rotarangi (University of Otago) and Dr Hayley Lawrence (Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research).

Their fellowships range in value from $31,800 to $264,000 and are for periods of between two and three years.

Te Tipu Pūtaiao fellowships are designed to unlock the innovation potential of Māori knowledge, people and resources for the benefit of New Zealand, with the Foundation offering them to Masters, PhD and Postdoctoral students and to Bridge to Employment recipients.

“The focus of the Te Tipu Pūtaiao fellowship scheme is to foster the development of New Zealand’s emerging scientists and build a stronger research community. Māori have a positive contribution to make to the research, science and technology sector,” says the Foundation’s strategy manager for Māori research and innovation, Pereri Hathaway.

“This scheme is one way of supporting young researchers and encouraging Maori students into science careers,” he says.

“We need to acknowledge and utilise the distinct and unique knowledge and contribution that Māori have to offer to the science and research community, and the scheme encourages our fellows to work collaboratively with Māori on research projects, resulting in good research outcomes for New Zealand,” says Mr Hathaway.

One of this year’s Te Tipu Pūtaiao Fellowships goes to Dr Hayley Lawrence who won a commendation in the 2006 MacDiarmid Young Scientists of the Year Awards presented by the Foundation to recognise research excellence while also promoting the importance of good science communication.

The recipients and their projects are:

Darnell Kennedy University of Otago	Anne-Marie Jackson University of Otago	Stephanie Rotarangi University of Otago	Dr Hayley Lawrence Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research

Amelia Geary - Victoria University of Wellington - no photo.

• Amelia Geary, Masters student, Victoria University of Wellington to study titi (muttonbird or sooty shearwaters) of the Marlborough Sounds (Motungārara Island) with the goal of developing new and distinctive approaches to environmental and resource protection that integrate both Western scientific and Māori traditional knowledge for long term sustainable management of muttonbird populations and the fragile island ecosystem. Amelia receives $33,000 for a two year project.
• Darnell Kennedy, Masters student, University of Otago (Ngati Māniapoto, Ngāti Maru) to develop and evaluate a method that compares DNA profiles of the streptococcus bacteria found on teeth and in bite marks on human skin which can be used to build an effective forensic tool to trace perpetrators of violent crimes while simultaneously profiling the streptococcal found in mouths of Māori and non-Māori. Darnel Kennedy receives $31,800 for two years.
• Anne-Marie Jackson, PhD student, University of Otago (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whatua) to identify constraints and enablers for establishing taiāpure (coastal patch where the government acknowledges that Māori, as tangata whenua, is entitled to have rangatiratanga over their fisheries), and whether the taiāpure process promotes Māori health and wellbeing. Anne-Marie receives $107,500 for her three year research.
• Stephanie Rotarangi, PhD student, University of Otago, to develop understandings of the motivations that lead Māori to make decisions regarding forest management and to understand the impact on national sustainability of current forest use changes with forest management policies important to Māori. Stephanie receives $107,500 for three years.
• Dr Hayley Lawrence, Postdoctoral researcher, Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research New Zealand, to research the endangered oi (grey-faced petrel seabird), investigating populations on the Ruamaahua (Alderman) Islands off Coromandel, conservation strategies and assisting Māori to strengthen their kaitiaki role for controlling and managing ecologically sustainable harvest policies. Hayley receives $264,000 for three years.

The fellowship scheme is open to all New Zealanders, providing funding support for students wanting to undertake Masters, PhD and postdoctoral research, as well as supporting employment opportunities for new and emerging scientists through the Bridge to Employment scheme. The recipients receive an annual stipend, tuition fees, research related costs and other expenses.

Find out more about Te Tipu Pūtaiao Fellowships.

Keeping whitebait from frittering away

With the whitebait season well under way, scientists from the University of Canterbury are engaged in timely research they believe will lead to better stocks of the delicacy in our streams and rivers.

Funded by $1.1 million from the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, the researchers are working on a four-year project to investigate where our most common whitebait (inanga, or Galaxias maculates) lay their eggs and the issues that threaten their spawning habitats.

Foundation business manager Dr Barbara Brown says the research will help New Zealand better manage the resource for future generations.

“This project is providing knowledge of critical ecological pathways for these native
fish, identifying threats to these pathways and reducing them,” she said. “It will lead to sustainable management of whitebait and their habitats by taking into account their entire life history requirements.”

The researchers have already discovered that whitebait favour very specific sites for spawning, with dense riverbank vegetation and high humidity conditions that are increasingly difficult to find along the banks of many of the West Coast and Canterbury waterways being studied.

“We knew that they laid their eggs amongst bank vegetation in the tidal areas of streams, but it’s much more specific than that,” says Dr Mike Hickford, one of the researchers.

“What’s important is what is happening underneath the vegetation. The inanga spawn where grasses clump together and form a dense root mat and where there is almost 100 per cent humidity, conditions that are as close to being under water as you can get out of the water. It’s not uncommon for different generations of fish to choose the same clump of grass for egg laying.”

The vegetation provides protection for the eggs which are laid on riverbanks on autumn high tides and stay there until the next high tide when the larvae hatch and are washed down the river and out to sea. They remain in the ocean over winter, returning to freshwater locations in spring, when whitebaiters are ready with their nets for them.

It is estimated that over 99.5 per cent of the larvae die between hatching and returning from the sea as whitebait, highlighting the importance of ensuring plentiful spawning sites if populations are to be sustained.

Dr Hickford says it can take years for optimum spawning conditions to develop and several factors work against the process and threaten existing spawning habitat, including flooding, sedimentation, grazing livestock, bank disturbance and deforestation.

Large rivers, such as the Buller on the West Coast, are often popular whitebaiting spots but they actually have very small spawning areas because the desirable habitat has been destroyed through flood control measures and the impact of urbanisation, Dr Hickford says.

“By and large it is probably smaller streams that are more vital for the health of the population as their spawning habitat tends to be more intact.”

Dr Hickford’s family comes from the West Coast and he has gone whitebaiting since he was a youngster, sparking his interest in learning why stocks of the highly valued species are depleted. While there are few historical records detailing the catch of whitebait, he says there is widespread belief that whitebait numbers are falling.

The research is being done by the Marine Ecology Research Group at Canterbury University, headed by Professor David Schiel with input from NIWA and the University of California, where Dr Hickford spent three years on a fellowship funded by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology.

Professor Schiel says researchers are also trying to establish how many ideal spawning sites are needed to protect and grow whitebait stocks.

“Fish will spawn when they need to – they make do with the habitat they find. But many eggs are undoubtedly lost and therefore unable to contribute to future generations because optimum spawning conditions are hard to find.”

Another strand of the research involves using techniques developed at the University of California to determine important spawning sites, by detecting and analysing chemical traces in the otoliths (ear bones) of whitebait and tracing those to the river or stream where the larvae hatched.

Dr Mike Hickford Professor David Schiel

The research findings have led to several initiatives designed to improve whitebait spawning habitats. The team is experimenting with enclosing trial areas on river and stream banks on the West Coast and in Canterbury to see if they can fast track the process of establishing optimum spawning conditions.

In other experiments, river banks have been modified, grazing stock removed and grass left to grow rather than being mowed to help re-establish natural conditions. It’s hoped larger scale initiatives, such as fencing off whole streams known to be important whitebait spawning areas, will be tried in the future.

The researchers are working with local authorities, environmental agencies and the Department of Conservation in both regions.

“A lot of people feel very passionate about whitebait and what is happening to the fishery,” says Dr Hickford. “By presenting the underpinning science and developing robust models for mitigation and remediation measures that will produce results, we can make a difference.”

The whitebait season started in most of New Zealand on August 15 and runs until November 30. On the West Coast the season started on September 1 and runs until November 14, while on the Chatham Islands it is from December 1 till the end of February.

MacDiarmid Young Scientists of the Year

Marine ecologist Dr Rebecca McLeod – whose research revealed that coastal deep water creatures rely on energy from Fiordland’s coastal forests – is the 2008 MacDiarmid Young Scientist of the Year.

Rebecca, 30, unravelled secrets of the ocean through studying the diet of primitive, scavenging hagfish which live up to 400 metres below sea level in the New Zealand fiords. She developed advanced chemistry tools that reveal energy transfer from the forest to the sea and deliver findings that have implications for coastal management in New Zealand and world-wide.

Rebecca’s work will also feed into climate change research in Antarctica? where a team of scientists will soon be diving beneath the ice and using Rebecca’s techniques to learn more about marine food webs and the likely impact of warmer temperatures on ocean life.

Rebecca, who is undertaking post-doctoral research at the University of Otago, was presented with the 2008 MacDiarmid Young Scientist of the Year Award during a gala awards night in Auckland in August.

This year’s overall MacDiarmid Awards runner-up is Matthew Brodie from Massey University, who developed a world-first system for measuring the precise movements of a skier while racing downhill. Matthew, who is completing a PhD in Biomechanics at Massey, has pioneered a new motion capture system that produces data which can help elite skiers go faster, potentially winning them more gold medals, by making more efficient use of gravity.

The MacDiarmid Awards are presented annually by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, with principal sponsor Fisher & Paykel Appliances and are named after New Zealand-born, Nobel Prize winning scientist Professor Alan MacDiarmid. They celebrate the achievements of New Zealand’s future leaders in science and are also designed to encourage others to follow in their footsteps.

Foundation chief executive Murray Bain said the standard of entries in 2008 was outstanding with entrants carrying out innovative, world-class science in a range of areas of importance to New Zealand.

Rebecca McLeod’s won a cash prize of $10,000 and the MacDiarmid medal. Matthew Brodie received a cash prize of $5,000. Both also received travel prizes.

A rigorous, three phase judging process culminated in the winners being selected by a panel of judges made up of Richard Faull, Professor of Anatomy at the University of Auckland, Carolyn Burns, Professor of Zoology at the University of Otago, Peter Jackson, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, College of Engineering at the University of Canterbury and Charles Daugherty, Assistant Vice-Chancellor, Research, at Victoria University of Wellington.

There were a record 146 entries from researchers and young scientists. Rebecca McLeod also won the Understanding Planet Earth category of the awards while Matthew Brodie also won the Future Science and Technologies category, sponsored by Industrial Research Limited.

Other winning entries included research into:

• Improved vaccines for cancer
• New drugs to fight the organism that cause Strep infections
• The impact of eco tourism on yellow-eyed penguins on the Otago Peninsula
• Reducing re-offending rates for sex offenders
• An environmentally friendly treatment for a fungi causing big losses in the forestry industry
• A high precision imaging system with wide ranging applications in robotics and special effects.

There are five categories in the MacDiarmid Awards with each winner receiving a cash prize of $5,000, as does the winner of the award for best Masters level research. Five students also receive a runner-up prize of $2500.

A range of educational and research institutions and private companies are involved in the winning research projects and all winners acknowledge the work supervisors and mentors do in terms of supporting and working closely with the students.

The full list of this year’s winners follows:

National Award Winner:
Dr Rebecca McLeod (University of Otago, Dunedin), ‘Temperate rain forest fuels deep sea secondary productivity’. Rebecca also won the Understanding Planet Earth category.

National Award Runner-Up:
Matthew Brodie (Massey University, Wellington), ‘Optimisation of athlete movement in alpine ski racing’. Matthew also won the Future Science and Technologies category.

Winner Understanding Planet Earth:
Rebecca McLeod (see above under national award winner)

Runner-up Understanding Planet Earth:
Dr Craig Radford (University of Auckland), ‘Ambient underwater sound: Understanding its origins, variations and biological role’.

Winner Science and our Society (sponsored by the University of Auckland and Auckland Uniservices):
Gwenda Willis (University of Canterbury), ‘The quality of community reintegration planning for child molesters’.

Runner-up Science and our Society:
Lauren French, (Victoria University of Wellington), ‘Social influences in memory distortion – the hidden danger of everyday conversation’ .

Winner Advancing Human Health and Wellbeing (sponsored by the Health Research Council of New Zealand):
Dianne Sika-Paotonu (Malaghan Institute of Medical Research, Wellington), ‘Designer vaccines: increasing the potency of dendritic-cell based vaccines for the treatment of cancer’.

Runner-up Advancing Human Health and Wellbeing:
Hae Joo Kang (University of Auckland), ‘Using X-ray vision to find clues for new therapies against Strep infection’.

Winner Future Science and Technologies (sponsored by Industrial Research Limited):
Matthew Brodie. (see above under national award runner-up)

Runner-up Future Science:
Andrew Payne (University of Waikato), ‘Development of a full field time-of-flight range imaging system (3D camera)’.

Winner Adding Value to Nature (sponsored by the University of Waikato):
Ursula Ellenberg (University of Otago), ‘Yellow-eyed penguins loved to death by well meaning visitors’.

Runner-up Adding Value to Nature:
Dr Tripti Singh (Scion), ‘Protection of wood against sapstain fungi using a novel, environmentally compatible technology’.

Winner Masters Level Research Award:
Karen Love (Scion), ‘Silica modification of pulp fibre (the best of both worlds)'. Karen’s entry was in the Adding Value to Nature category.

Find out more about the MacDiarmid Awards.

Unrecorded New Zealand now being catalogued

Forty-five scientists are hard at work around New Zealand identifying our huge treasure trove of unique, unrecorded plants, insects, bacteria and fungi.

The research, which has investment of $19 million over four years from the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, will catalogue and describe as many species as possible of key groups of unrecorded New Zealand flora, fauna and fungi.

Other aims include improving national biosecurity and playing a critical role in protecting food exports.

“New Zealand is still in a phase of major discovery in the area of classifying and documenting the diversity of life around us,” says Dr Ilse Breitwieser, a research leader and biosystematics specialist with Landcare Research at Lincoln, Canterbury.

“We rank among the 25 global biodiversity hotspots in the world, but much of our flora, fauna and fungi is yet to be scientifically recorded. We could discover a new species every day, for a long time, with the right level of resources applied to the task.”

The science of naming and classifying species is called biosystematics and one of the only research programmes currently being carried out in this area in New Zealand is led by Dr Breitwieser, with the Foundation’s Outcome Based Investment “Defining New Zealand’s Land Biota” supporting the work of 45 scientists and technicians around the country.

They are looking at both native and introduced plants, insects, fungi and bacteria to describe new land-based species and improve the information available about those already identified.

Ilse Breitweiser Pic: Kerry Ford

Dr Breitwieser says around 48,000 species have so far been discovered in New Zealand and its surrounding Exclusive Economic Zone, representing around half of the expected total. Of the known species, around a quarter are yet to be fully described, or understood in terms of their relationships and ecology, including many large organisms such as trees, shrubs, beetles and mushrooms.

“New Zealanders are constantly being confronted by the potential consequences of invasive alien species getting established. Unless we know what they are, and what is already here that could be at risk from new invaders, it’s difficult to respond appropriately. Accurate knowledge of our biota that might hide away among export products is also vital to minimise disruption of our international trade.

“Accurately naming organisms is the key to retrieving all other knowledge about them, from publications, databases, biosecurity listings and ongoing research projects. Wrong names lead to incorrect and misleading information and limit our ability to protect New Zealand’s unique biodiversity.”

Work carried out to date by Dr Breitwieser’s team is wide ranging and includes, for example, investigating species of New Zealand algae which possess features found in few other algae in the world and could hold clues to improving knowledge about the evolution of the earliest green plants.

In addition to being important components of ecosystems, algae contain huge genetic resources which hold promise for delivering green technologies in the future. Other recent research by the team is improving understanding of how past logging has impacted on fungi in native forests and how imported fungi affects native ecosystems.

Dr Breitwieser says the biosystematics research is already proving it can play a critical role in protecting New Zealand’s primary produce exports.

For example, Australian restrictions on imports of New Zealand avocados were lifted after Landcare Research scientists proved through DNA analyses that the disease, Avocado Scab, is not present in New Zealand.

“We were able to check the validity of a report that New Zealand avocados had been affected by the disease, by checking a fruit sample against a diseased avocado specimen from the United States. This threat to New Zealand’s avocado exports could be rapidly resolved only because of the long term storage and maintenance of samples through the research programme.”

Dr Breitwieser says there are challenges in maintaining capability in biosystematics, with few tertiary training courses available and a growing shortage of local experts. For example, the only remaining New Zealand expert who can identify weevils – which are significant for New Zealand’s biosecurity – is a retired researcher, aged 90.

“Biosystematics is an area of science that is vital for sound, long term decision making, and to ensure environmental sustainability. It’s seen by some as an old fashioned discipline that is no longer necessary but it’s actually an essential building block for many of New Zealand’s most important industries and for trade,” says Dr Breitwieser.

The work is detailed and can sometimes be slow – a native buttercup first spotted in the North Otago mountain ranges by an amateur botanist in 1998 was only confirmed as a new species last year, after exhaustive testing and DNA sequencing. It was immediately placed on the New Zealand list of the 50 most endangered plants.

Specimens of new discoveries like the buttercup join national collections overseen by Landcare Research and information about them is available on a range of databases available through Landcare Research’s website. Landcare Research also runs a plant identification and information service which is available to members of the public as well as government and commercial organisations.

NZ flight simulators on world pilot training market

International pilots will soon be training on New Zealand built aircraft simulators, with the first professional flight training simulator being developed by the Flight Experience Group of Christchurch with help from the TechNZ arm of the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology.

The simulator being developed is the PS4 which is modelled on a Boeing 737NG Professional Flight Training Device. NG refers to ‘Next Generation’ Boeing 600, 700 and 800 aircraft, which are the latest in the 737 Series. Flight Experience Group CEO Bill Highet says several export orders are pending.

The pending orders mark a milestone for the company which began developing replica aircraft cockpits in 2003 and now produces simulators for the entertainment market and professional pilot training.

Investment of $500,000 from TechNZ the business investment arm of the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, is helping the company develop software and hardware needed to produce a new model that incorporates computer systems, wrap-around visual graphics of the outside flight environment, and the effects of wind, engine noise, cooling and sound systems along with vibrations in the seat to trick the brain of those at the controls into believing that they are flying anywhere in the world and landing at any airport.

“This is a smart organisation which has identified a niche market,” says TechNZ Senior Business Manager Carmel Howley.

“The management team has a substantial track record and the company has created an equation for success, with an ability to conquer global markets. It is forging great international connections, making it exactly the type of business TechNZ likes to support,” she says.

The TechNZ investment is to help produce a simulator that is modelled on the Boeing 737NG jet and meets international flight training standards for professional pilots.

The Civil Aviation Authority from Scandinavia has been contracted to provide independent certification that the model meets the necessary international standards and specifications.

“We expect to receive certification in the not too distant future and will then be able to close a number of deals for other sales already in the pipeline,” Mr Highet says.

“Given that these units will be used for training pilots to fly with a significant number of passengers on board there are very strict standards to be adhered to.”

The Flight Experience Group operates its professional training subsidiary under the Pacific Simulator brand and is confident of building global sales rapidly.

“Growth of the world’s jet airliner fleet is likely to result in the need for an additional 18,000 pilots in the next six years, and that’s not taking into account the number of pilots retiring,” says Mr Highet.

Pacific Simulators intends to occupy a niche market between full motion trainers, which cost up to US$20 million and smaller flat panel trainers, which replicate the cockpit with computer screens.

“We’re not looking to displace either of those but if we can put a major part of professional pilot training onto a lower cost simulator like ours, airlines can train a greater number of pilots more quickly,” he says. Pacific Simulators’ training devices are priced at around the US$1 million mark.

Another subsidiary of the group, operating as Flight Experience, is franchising simulators in the entertainment industry. There are already five franchised in New Zealand, three in Australia, and one in Singapore. One franchise with two simulators is about to open in Hong Kong, outlets in China are being investigated and the company intends to operate its own simulator operations in the United Kingdom and the United States to showcase its thrill-seeking equipment to those markets.

With the two streams of revenue, the group is forecasting rapid growth over the next five years with the potential to generate around $35 million, mostly from exports.

Another potential market for the Flight Experience units is wealthy overseas buyers wanting the ultimate boy’s toy.

“The TechNZ support has been critical for a small company with tight cashflow and in rapid growth mode that needs resources to commit to major R&D programmes,” says Mr Highet.

The group has 23 staff with five working full time on research and development.

The company will be promoting its simulators later this month at the Asia Pacific Airline Training Symposium in Bangkok and a major aviation trade show in Vienna in November.