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Distinguished scientists and engineers
Industrial Research Ltd is home to a world-class collection of scientific and engineering talent renowned for both pushing back the boundaries of fundamental research and forging innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing industrial and social problems. In recognition of their outstanding and far-reaching contributions to science and industry, both in New Zealand and abroad, IRL confers upon its top achievers the title of Distinguished Scientist or Distinguished Engineer, the highest rung on IRL's science and engineering ladder. To date 12 IRL scientists and engineers have attained this coveted status, with recipients including Fellows of the Royal Society of New Zealand, and holders of Queen’s Birthday Honours.
Mike Andrews
Ian Brown
Bob Buckley
Richard Furneaux
Tim Haskell
Shaun Hendy
Chris Sutton
Jeff Tallon
Peter Tyler
Graham Weir
Rod White
Marcus King
Mike Andrews
IRL senior scientist Mike Andrews was recently promoted to the ranks of Distinguished Scientist for his work on silicon and acoustic sensors that have pushed the technological boundaries of imaging and detecting. These include sensors used to measure the Martian atmosphere and others that have helped raise the quality of New Zealand agricultural produce by improving fruit storage and analysing the quality of products such as meat and timber. Read more >>
Ian Brown
Dr Ian Brown’s career spans some thirty years of research in the field of materials science relating to glass, ceramics, minerals and hydrogen energy. In addition to holding seven patents and having published over 120 papers in peer reviewed international journals, Dr Brown has presented more than 20 plenary and keynote addresses at conferences, and made more than 50 national and international conference presentations. Read more >>
Bob Buckley
Dr Robert G Buckley, who manages IRL’s world-renowned High Temperature Superconductivity group, is both a Distinguished Scientist and a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Over the past 15 years, he has lead IRL’s research into the synthesis, discovery and application of high-temperature superconductor materials and managed their commercialisation. Read more >>
Richard Furneaux
Dr Richard Furneaux is one of New Zealand’s most respected scientists. Since 1985, he has managed IRL’s world-renowned carbohydrate chemistry technology group, which has grown to include 33 research scientists and whose achievements include 225 publications, 32 reviews and 13 published patent series. Read more >>
Tim Haskell
Dr Tim Haskell, of IRL’s Measurement Standards Laboratory, was promoted to the position of Distinguished Scientist for his work in Antarctica and in optical research. Dr Haskell was awarded the Royal Society of New Zealand’s Hector Medal for physical sciences in 2007 for his outstanding contributions as a leader of, and advocate for, several novel New Zealand research programmes, particularly the New Zealand Antarctic Research Programme. Read more >>
Shaun Hendy
Shaun Hendy joined IRL in 1998 as a NZ Science & Technology Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Applied Mathematics team. He is now a Distinguished Scientist at IRL, and Deputy Director of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and nanotechnology, hosted by Victoria University of Wellington. Read more >>
Chris Sutton
Chris Sutton’s promotion to Distinguished Scientist in 2008 recognises his considerable achievements in the field of metrology – the science of measurement. He serves on national and international committees that oversee and ensure world-wide consistency in international measurements. He was also involved in the preparation of New Zealand’s Measurement Standards Act in 1992 which led to the establishment of MSL[?]. Read more >>
Jeff Tallon
Jeff Tallon, Distinguished Scientist and senior research scientist with the HTS[?] conductors and devices group, was named a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2009 Queen’s Birthday Honour’s List. The honour acknowledges his services to science in a career spanning 40 years. Read more >>
Peter Tyler
Dr Peter Tyler received the ranking of Distringuished Scientist in recognition of his design and synthesis of new biologically active carbohydrate molecules, including the discovery of compounds that block T-cell proliferation (a discovery that subsequently brought in more than $6 million in royalty payments to IRL), a new anti-cancer compound that alters important gene expression in tumour cells, and a potential new type of anti-bacterial control that works by blocking bacterial quorum sensing. Read more >>
Graham Weir
Dr Graham Weir has led Industrial Research’s applied maths actitivities since the CRI[?] came into being in 1992. This has involved overseeing commercial work relating to porous media flow, such as geothermal modelling, and some petroleum and irrigation modelling. Read more >>
Rod White
Rod White of the Measurement Standards Laboratory was promoted to Distinguished Scientist in 2008 in recognition of his considerable achievements in the field of thermometry ranging from industry applications through to fundamental improvements to the temperature scale. Read more >>
Marcus King
The first of IRL's senior engineers to be promoted to the title of Distinguished Engineer, Marcus King is New Zealand’s premier inventor of assistive technology for people with disabilities, especially neurological disorders affecting the upper limbs. Read more >>