Founded by Max Farndale 1947 - 2018
Nuplex Industries confirmed its takeover by Allnex Belguim SA had received antitrust clearance from the European Commission, paving the way for its transfer into the hands of the private-equity backed Belgian company.
It seems like 3D printing has taken root at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. Just last month, the university’s archeological faculty announced its intentions to 3D print educational models of 3,000-year-old artefacts. Now, its biological sciences department is planning to use 3D printing to fight deforestation, with associate professor David Lueng having just been awarded a government grant to explore the development of synthetic wood through the 3D bioprinting of live plant cells. The research project aims to provide the wood industry with a sustainable alternative.
Given the global problem of deforestation, creating viable 3D printed wood would be a huge achievement. Nearly half of all original forests have already been cut down, and the global trend is not slowing down. According to some estimates, up to 13 million hectares of forest is lost every year–the equivalent of 36 football fields per minute. Deforestation is also known as a very important contributor to global carbon emissions, so all wood alternatives are very welcome.
Professor Leung might have a solution: 3D bioprinting artificial wood that can be harvested to provide a customizable alternative to the real thing. The New Zealand government believes that the plant physiology expert could be onto something, and has provided him with a NZ$255,000 grant over a three year period. If successful, he could provide the New Zealand manufacturing sector with a new, sustainable biomaterial.
A lot more is happening over in New Zealand, as Leung’s initiative was just one of 10 ambitious seed projects that received grants from the NZ$826,000 fund of the Science for Technological Innovation (SfTI) National Science Challenge (2016). The ten selected projects were recently announced by Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce.
Professor Leung himself is also a biotechnology expert, and his project (entitled ‘Enabling sustainable economic development with advanced additive manufacturing of wood’) is seen as having a lot of economic potential. “Although challenging, there is potential to use live cells as an advanced manufacturing material in a yet-to-be invented, new industry,” Leung said. In this application, 3D printing would become an industrial, mass-production tool.
The viability of Leung's method has already been demonstrated during a test with live green algal cells, but the associate professor is confident that the project can go further: “It is possible that other types of plant cells, such as the wood-forming cells of eucalyptus trees, could be used as bio-printing materials," Leung explained. "Hence, it is a potential, socially acceptable opportunity for sustainable economic development derived from native forests."
In particular, Leung is currently looking at live eucalyptus tree cells: “They will be physiologically primed in a 3D structure in the biotech lab at the University of Canterbury, without any genetic modification, to be capable of responding to the appropriate triggers for transformation into a principal wood cell called a tracheid,” he said. “The changes in the cells will be studied in relation to the characteristic morphological features and chemical properties of tracheids using various microscopic, histochemical staining and fluorescence techniques.”
If successful, this study could make a huge contribution to the fight against deforestation while simultaneously promoting and pushing other 3D bioprinting initiatives and even enabling the widespread implementation of 3D bioprinting on a larger scale. It’s clear that we’ll have to keep an eye on the University of Canterbury.
Judges for the 2016 NZI Sustainable Business Network Awards have announced the line-up of finalists.
CEO of the Sustainable Business Network (SBN) Rachel Brown says these organisations and individuals are leading the transformation to a more sustainable New Zealand.
“These Awards are unique. They recognise outstanding achievement in making New Zealand a more sustainable nation.
“Together we can restore New Zealand’s landscapes, oceans and waterways and we can tackle this nation’s social issues. Those leading on this are pioneering new forms of business success. In my book they all deserve to be New Zealander of the year. It can feel like swimming uphill a lot of the time, so recognising those doing the right thing is vital.
“The Awards are our way of celebrating together. They are one of the ways we recharge ourselves for the challenges to come.
“I hope New Zealanders give these people and their organisations the support they deserve. Because every time we buy something or support a cause we make a choice about the kind of country we want to live in.”
The Award winners will be announced at a black tie ceremony on 17 November at Shed 10 on Auckland’s waterfront.
The finalists for the 2016 NZI Sustainable Business Network Awards are:
Sustainability Champion AwardBarry Coates (The University of Auckland and Green Party, formerly Oxfam)Brian Cox (Bio Energy Association of NZ)Buffie Mawhinney (Ranui Community Centre)Gareth Morgan (The Morgan Foundation)Steve Ellingford (Bayfair Shopping Centre)
Cadence Communications Communicating Sustainability AwardBetter NZ TrustGreen CabsKokakoPackaging Forum IncThe Oversew Fashion Awards
The EcoPro Cleaning Co Community Innovation AwardChariot RidesharingCorefusion LimitedCSC Buying GroupEcotricityGood Neighbour Aotearoa TrustKiwibankLittle Yellow BirdThe New Zealand Network Charitable TrustVerisafe
Airbnb Community Impact AwardAuckland CouncilCounties Manukau HealthGood Neighbour Aotearoa TrustKai CarrierMetal ArtPackaging Forum IncSustainability TrustTerraCycle
Ricoh Mega Efficiency Innovation AwardAsaleo CareEcotricityEnergy and Technical Services LtdMethod RecyclingMy Car Your RentalTerraCycle
Auckland Council Mega Efficiency Impact AwardCapital & Coast District Health BoardCityhopFonterraFulton Hogan / Tauranga Airport AuthorityKiwi ExperienceWebstar
Renewables Innovation AwardEcotricityFlick Electric CoNZ BusScionsolarcitySpark NZ
Renewables Impact AwardAir New ZealandAuckland TransportChargeNet NZChristchurch Bike Share
Yealands Family Wines Restorative Innovation AwardAvon-Ōtākaro NetworkEkosGHDGo BambooJunk RunRaw Essentials
Restorative Impact AwardCeres OrganicsComvitaGreen CabsWe CompostZingBokashi
EECA Business Energy Management AwardFinalists from the Renewables and Mega efficiency categories are eligible to apply for the Energy Management Award. Finalists for this category will be announced in early November.
Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce announced today that the Science for Technological Innovation National Science Challenge will invest $826,000 in 10 ambitious new research projects to develop disruptive technology for industry.
“The pace of technology change is accelerating so it’s important that our high-tech firms have access to the right know-how to build the sorts of innovative products that will help them to succeed in highly competitive global markets,” Mr Joyce says.
“These new seed projects will create new knowledge through fundamental research that will support firms to contribute to the evolution of New Zealand’s growing high-tech economy.”
Individual projects, which range in duration from between one and three years, will receive up to $255,000 to fund research programmes, and will be undertaken across five universities, one CRI, and two independent research organisations.
Projects include:
Science for Technological Innovation is one of 11 National Science Challenges targeting specific goals that have significant, enduring benefits for New Zealand. The Challenge’s mission is to enhance New Zealand’s capacity to use physical sciences and engineering for economic growth.
The list of 2016 Science for Technological Innovation Seed Projects is available here.
The Reserve Bank says that its consistent principles and approach to banking supervision have helped create a strong, robust banking system.
“Our supervisory philosophy is to implement cost-effective regulations to mitigate market failures and thereby promote a sound and efficient financial sector for New Zealand,” said Head of Prudential Supervision Toby Fiennes in a speech today to the New Zealand Bankers’ Association.
“One market failure we focus on is externalities – the costs to wider society that financial institutions have little incentive to take account of when they make commercial decisions. An example would be a financial institution failing in a disorderly way that results in the public losing access to funds that they rely on to do basic transactions,” he said.
“The other market failure we focus on is asymmetric information – where one party to a transaction has better information than the other, and can use that to their advantage.” Our way to address these market failures is to take regulatory actions that help realign the interests of financial institutions, their customers and wider society, Mr Fiennes said.
He said that the Reserve Bank took care to ensure that its regulations didn’t absolve boards and senior managers from their responsibility to manage risks.
“Since no financial institution is guaranteed by the government, there is more market pressure on institutions to compete on safety than there would be in a system with guarantees. There is solid international evidence showing that, on balance, the absence of guarantees improves the overall stability of the financial system,” he said.
We take international standards as an important benchmark for our policy development, but don’t adopt them if they are going to be inappropriate for New Zealand.
A recent internal review of our regulatory framework confirmed that the philosophy remains broadly fit-for-purpose for New Zealand. However, the review also highlighted areas where we can better align our supervisory practices with our philosophy, such as the potential for an attestation regime and stronger disclosure requirements for insurers.
Speech text: Consistent approach to regulations and supervision has promoted robust banking system.
Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines today announced the extension of their alliance to include travel between Wellington and Singapore.
From 21 September Air New Zealand will be able to codeshare on Singapore Airlines’ new Wellington-Singapore service and Singapore Airlines on Air New Zealand’s domestic network beyond Wellington.
The two carriers first launched an alliance in early 2015, which included the Singapore Airlines’ Singapore-Christchurch service and enabled Air New Zealand to resume operating the Auckland-Singapore route, delivering greater access to Singapore from New Zealand.
Air New Zealand Chief Strategy, Networks and Alliances Officer Stephen Jones says the airline is pleased with the inclusion of the Wellington-Singapore service into the alliance and committed to working with Singapore Airlines to ensure its success.
“The launch of our alliance with Singapore Airlines delivered capacity growth of 15 percent in its first year helping to not only grow visitor arrivals benefiting our tourism industry but also provide convenient travel options to Singapore and markets beyond. We welcome the addition of the Wellington service to our alliance and look forward to celebrating the inaugural flight in a few weeks’ time,” says Mr Jones.
Singapore Airlines General Manager, New Zealand, Mr Simon Turcotte says the extension of the alliance agreement to include the new service will deliver a greater choice to customers looking to travel to and from New Zealand.
“The addition of the new Wellington-Singapore route (via Canberra) is another example of our commitment to provide increased frequency and capacity between Singapore and New Zealand,” Mr Turcotte said.
”We have enjoyed a strong relationship with Air New Zealand since we launched our alliance agreement in 2015 and we greatly appreciate their support for the new service that will connect Wellington to the world.”
Launching on 21 September, the new Wellington-Singapore service will operate four times a week departing Wellington at 20:15 on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sundays, arriving in Singapore at 05:50 the next day following a short 85 minute stop-over in Canberra.
Fares for the new service under the alliance agreement will be available on a progressive basis from 1 September in New Zealand, Singapore and Europe.
Recent Rise in US Consumer Confidence suggests US could be a growing market for New Zealand exports, according to ANZ Bank.
The cheery US consumer is as likely to be toasting his or her good fortune with a glass of New Zealand sauvignon blanc as a goblet of Californian chardonnay, according to research from ANZ bank, a leading antipodean lender.
A growing taste for lamb and eating out at foreign restaurants which use less popular cuts of mutton and lamb, may also characterise the average Americans' changing tastes and habits, suggests the report, which highlights the growing popularity of New Zealand food and wine commodities in the USA.
"The rise of the US consumer has begun to catch New Zealand exporters’ eye recently. Indeed where there are established business relationships, favourable market access and less local competition (i.e. red meat and Sauvignon Blanc wine), there has already been a notable lift in exports over the past 18 months,” said the report from ANZ.
The trend is likely to continue after recent data showed US Consumer Confidence hitting an 11-month high in August, rising by 4.4 basis points to 101.1 from 96.7 previously.
Much of the increased optimism came from the high-earning, 35-54 cohort, who make between 50 -130k dollars per annum and comprise the target market for New Zealand produce.
MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--C.H. Robinson continues to grow its global presence and today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire APC Logistics, a leading provider of freight forwarding and customs brokerage services in Australia and New Zealand. The two companies have had a long-standing exclusive agent relationship for business in Australia and New Zealand. The agreement is subject to certain customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval.
“This acquisition allows us to add great talent to our Global Forwarding team and advances the strategy to expand our global network,” said John Wiehoff, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of C.H. Robinson. “We will work hard to successfully integrate the valued employees, customers and suppliers of APC.”
APC Logistics is a privately held international freight forwarder, providing ocean, air, customs brokerage and consultancy services, currently serving over 3,000 customers and suppliers. Founded in 1974 and headquartered in Melbourne, Australia, APC Logistics employs approximately 300 people and has seven offices in Australia and two offices in New Zealand. APC had $334.2 million AUD (approximately $251 million USD) in total revenues for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2016. C.H. Robinson intends to purchase APC Logistics for approximately $300 million AUD (approximately $225 million USD) in cash. The acquisition is expected to be accretive in 2016 and 2017 and will be financed through cash and funds drawn from C.H. Robinson’s existing revolving credit facility.
“By joining C.H. Robinson, we are building on the business we have done together for more than 16 years,” said Tony Considine, Chief Executive Officer of APC Logistics. “We are extremely excited to have our business be part of C.H. Robinson, a leading global company, and believe this will position us to better serve our customers and foster growth by leveraging C.H. Robinson’s vast network and core service offerings.”
C.H. Robinson’s Global Forwarding business currently serves four continents and 37 countries, with approximately 3,500 employees and 109 offices worldwide, and is the #1 non-vessel operator (NVO) from China to the United States. Global forwarding clients leverage C.H. Robinson’s considerable freight volumes to access available capacity at competitive rates.
“APC Logistics is a high quality company with a proven track record of success. Combining their expertise and strong customer and carrier relationships with C.H. Robinson’s service offerings and network will create more robust capabilities for our customers and add scale to our business,” said Mike Short, President of C.H. Robinson’s Global Forwarding division. “We are excited to welcome the talented team at APC Logistics to C.H. Robinson.”
Once the deal closes, C.H. Robinson will integrate APC Logistics into its Global Forwarding division and single global technology platform, Navisphere®.
NZX-listed online travel booking and expense management company Serko (NZX: SKO) has formed a partnership with online travel and accommodation services provider Helloworld that will enable users of Serko’s online booking tool, Serko Online, to search and book Helloworld hotel inventory.
Helloworld brands include AOT Inbound, ATS Pacific, AOT NZ, Sunlover Holidays, Qantas Holidays, Viva! Holidays, Go Holidays, escape.com and travelmate.com.au. The company is an aggregator of urban and regional hotel inventory and provides access to more than 120,000 properties worldwide. It offers ‘instant purchase rates’, and‘on-account’ payment options to its customers.
Darrin Grafton, Serko CEO said “Helloworld is an important part of the Australian hotel landscape and is valued by the Government sector and we expect their sharp pricing and on-account service to be of interest to Serko’s growing customer base.”
Andrew Burnes, Helloworld CEO and managing director said Helloworld was particularly strong in regional areas where mainstream aggregators are typically weak. “By bringing Helloworld and Serko further together we hope to create real, long-term sustainable value for both companies,” he said.
Serko said Helloworld content would be available to all Serko Online customers “shortly”.
IOFIT gold shoes sync with smart device apps to provide golf swing feedback based on balance and stance, with sharable data that can be compared to pros. We’ve seen how virtual coach apps and wearables have diversified into a number of sports, such as an attachable device that monitors kayakers’ performances, smart wristbands that can help you train for five different sports, and now golfers are the latest to benefit. IOFIT, an offshoot of Samsung Electronics, is a smart golf shoe that enables golfers to improve their swing. The shoes connect wirelessly via blutetooth to iOS and Android smart devices, so that users can record their golf swings via the IOFIT app. The shoes record weight distribution and power output as the user swings, and also features a video mode so that users can see how their data translates to their body movement. Data points are gathered via thin pressure sensors embedded within the shoe’s outer soles, with users also able to share and compare their performances with friends and professionals.
IOFIT are currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter, with shipping of shoes in all sizes and a range of colors expected in February 2017.
Website: www.iofitshoes.com
Palace of the Alhambra, Spain
By: Charles Nathaniel Worsley (1862-1923)
From the collection of Sir Heaton Rhodes
Oil on canvas - 118cm x 162cm
Valued $12,000 - $18,000
Offers invited over $9,000
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
Mount Egmont with Lake
By: John Philemon Backhouse (1845-1908)
Oil on Sea Shell - 13cm x 14cm
Valued $2,000-$3,000
Offers invited over $1,500
Contact: Henry Newrick – (+64 ) 27 471 2242
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