Engineering & Technology

Tullen Snips

John Hough

In 1972 somebody handed John Hough a pair of shears made overseas, suggesting he duplicate the manufacturing process and make them himself. The…

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Stamp vending machine

JR Dickie . Ernest Moss

In AD 60 Hero of Alexandria invented a water vending machine to sell water to thirsty people with money.In 1840 the postage stamp was invented in…

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Barmac Rock Crusher

James MacDonald & Brian Bartley

Rock crushing, believe it or not, is big business. MacDonald and Bartley saw their machine being used in the creation of aggregate (small rocks) for…

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Seismic Isolators

Bill Robinson

Nobody is owed a greater debt of gratitude around the world, as well as in New Zealand, than Dr Bill Robinson (b. 1938, d. 2011).

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Securichain

Murray Baber

Murray designed a better door chain. The Securichain is fitted inside the door and the jamb, so that when it is closed the only part that is visible…

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Human Flight

Richard Pearse

Pearse was a great inventor in his own (w)right, and he created that looked very much like what we consider a plane today - without a huge staff of…

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Satellite in space

William Pickering

The task before the team at the JPL in 1957 was immense. They were to create a satellite that was technologically the equal of Sputnik, and get it…

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Iconic

Britten Motorcycle

John Britten

Other countries are good at and renowned for quite refined and artistic things - like fine coffee table design, and the world's most elegant china or…

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Electronic Petrol Pump

PEC

In 1939 Ray Williams' father agreed to loan him the money to start his own business, on one condition - that he never leave Marton.

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Carbon Nanotubes

John Abrahamson

In 1952, at the height of the Cold War, the Russians were onto something – two Russian scientists published a photo in a Soviet science journal that…

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BFM Fitting

Blair McPheat

Every processing plant, whether it be food, pharmaceutical or petrochemical has connectors between the different components - the hoppers and vats…

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Iconic

Bionic Legs

Robert Irving and Richard Little

In 2003, Scottish born kiwi import Robert Irving was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. His own mother was already a sufferer of the debilitating…

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Hamburger Holder

Roland Mathews

In 2002 New Plymouth-born Roland Matthews came up with a novel invention for holding his hamburger.

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Fastmount

Gregg Kelly

New Zealand’s high-tech marine industry gave birth (and berth!) to a company that has developed a superbly simple and beautifully designed system for…

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Iconic

Martin Jetpack

Glenn Martin

The history of jetpacks is long and there have been hundreds of prototypes made all over the world. The most famous is the Bell Rocket Belt. It was…

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Power by proxi

Greg Cross

Through university business development and commercialisation programmes Spark, Icehouse and Uniservices, John Boys met Greg Cross.

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Romotow!

Matt Wilkie & Stuart Winterbourn

Looking like a giant USB memory stick being towed down the road, the Romotow is a new concept in caravans. Invented by architect and designer Matt…

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Wave Power generator

NWEI

Alistair Campbell of Callaghan Innovation and his team started in 2004 in a different way to other researchers around the world. As engineers rather…

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Cortex

Jake Evill

The cast consists of a web-like hard plastic shell, made from Nylon, printed in a 3D printer to an individual design per appendage.

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Cablecam

Thornton Bayliss

The idea behind the Cablecam came when Bayliss realised there was a need to come up with a system that film cameras could use to get into…

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Live 3D Sports Graphics

Ian Taylor

ARL started in 1989 as a joint venture between Taylor and University of Otago, who provided him with a team of international prize-winning computer…

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Telegraphic typewriter

Donald Murray

The thing about typewriters in the late 1890s is that they were all so local. The person typing sat in right front of it and the paper came out of it…

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Glowing paths

Hamish Scott

The idea is simple. Where Scott lived, in the Surrey in the UK, councils had begun to save money by switching off pathway lighting in parks at night…

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ePTFE (aka Goretex)

John W. Cropper

If you search through the wardrobes of your house, you are likely to have some. The waterproof fabric known as Gore-Tex is a technological marvel…

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Stretch Sensors

Ben O'Brien

They are attached to a small battery and an electronics board that transmits the amount of stretch in the band by Bluetooth to a smartphone app where…

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Iconic

Rocket Lab

Peter Beck

Rocket Lab are based in Auckland. CEO Peter Beck is an engineer with no university degree who's learned rocket science by doing it.

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Sonic Electrospinning

Revolution Fibres

Nanofibres are simply fibres 5000 times thinner than a human hair.

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Reusable Envelope

Stephen Smythe

Smythe retired from his architecture practice at the end of 1997, and with time on his hands an idea that had been germinating in his head sprouted…

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Flower vending machine

Andrew McAlpine

If the stamp vending machine is one of New Zealand's oldest and most successful inventions, the flower vending machine is one of our newest. Whether…

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Powdered Paint Pigments

Rachel Lacy

Her idea was simple: manufacture powdered colours that can be mixed with a base easily and at home.

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Side opening ratchet

Barry Armour

The Armour Side-Loading Tie Down Ratchet has a hinged side which opens, allowing you to simply loop the strap into the mechanism wherever on its…

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