Events

The New Zealand International Science Festival brings an exciting new Nano Edition Festival to Dunedin this year during the first week of the school holidays.

Be prepared to discover humpback whales, take home jet packs, build the tallest marshmallow tower, and watch a live stage production of the big bang theory!

Dunedin is turning up its dial to explode this July with over 50 thrilling events. Full programme and tickets available 19 June 2020 at the Scifest website.

More information

The New Zealand International Science Festival brings an exciting new Nano Edition Festival to Dunedin this year during the first week of the school holidays.

Be prepared to discover humpback whales, take home jet packs, build the tallest marshmallow tower, and watch a live stage production of the big bang theory!

Dunedin is turning up its dial to explode this July with over 50 thrilling events. Full programme and tickets available 19 June 2020 at the Scifest website.

More information

Techweek, New Zealand’s festival of technology and innovation, is going to look a little different this year. 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Techweek2020 is moving to July and will only involve digital events. 

The new dates for Techweek2020 are 27 July to 2 August. 

Moving Techweek2020 to late July gives Techweek the opportunity to be a channel and platform for positive regrowth, economic stimulation and connections during the COVID-19 recovery phase.

A digital Techweek

The uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 means that we have made the decision to take Techweek entirely online this year. 

While this new format means that only digital events will be part of Techweek2020, it also means that people won’t be restricted by their geographic locations so they can attend any or all of the Techweek2020 events.

Event organisers are being encouraged to re-imagine their events as virtual experiences.  We look forward to seeing a broad range of events to engage, inform and inspire Kiwis, and to help us connect to our future. 

More information

Water: A global commodity in our own backyard. What is the state of water in Aotearoa today; how and where might our water flow tomorrow? Join us for a panel discussion and film screening of ‘Aquarela’ to discover more.

Explore the future of freshwater
This is a combined panel discussion/film screening event. The panel will explore the future of freshwater in NZ: unpacking the perspectives and considerations around freshwater in the future.

Panel discussion
Panellists include:

Dr Mike Joy, a Senior Research Fellow in the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies in the University’s Wellington School of Business and Government
Tim Naish, a Professor in Earth Sciences in the UVW Antarctic Research Centre
Professor Catherine Iorns from VUW Faculty of Law
Aaria Dobson-Waitere- Kaitiaki Ranger at ZEALANDIA, Mana Whenua (Taranaki Whānui), Te Tini o Hākuturi Rōpū.
Dr Danielle Shanahan, Head of Conservation and the Director of the Centre for People and Nature at ZEALANDIA, will facilitate the discussion.

Film ‘Aquarela’ viewing
After the panel, join us as in viewing the film Aquarela.

The run time of the film is approx. 1hr 30mins. Provisional film timing is 7.15 – 8.45pm.

‘Aquarela takes audiences on a deeply cinematic journey through the transformative beauty and raw power of water. A visceral wake-up call that humans are no match for the sheer force and capricious will of Earth’s most precious element. From the precarious frozen waters of Lake Baikal to Miami in the throes of Hurricane Irma to Venezuela’s mighty Angel Falls, water is Aquarela’s main character’.

JUST HOW ON EARTH DO WE KNOW WHAT MARS IS MADE OF?

Right now there is the NASA Mars InSight programme to help understand the interior of our neighbouring Red Planet.  Humans haven’t retrieved rocks from Mars, but we do have rocks on Earth from Mars...

• How is this possible?
• What is Mars made of?
• Are Mars rocks unique?
• Are geological processes operating on Mars different to those on Earth?
• What is the prospect that life occurs (or has occurred) on the planet?

I will explain just how on Earth we know about Mars, I will summarise some of my research on the high-P ejecta, and I will bring some (very small) Martian meteorites for show and tell.

James will be visiting the following branches:

• 27 July Wellington
• 28 July Manawatu
• 29 July Taupo
• 30 July Waikato
• 31 July Auckland

Further dates and locations will be announced soon.

Techweek, New Zealand’s festival of technology and innovation, is going to look a little different this year. 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Techweek2020 is moving to July and will only involve digital events. 

The new dates for Techweek2020 are 27 July to 2 August. 

Moving Techweek2020 to late July gives Techweek the opportunity to be a channel and platform for positive regrowth, economic stimulation and connections during the COVID-19 recovery phase.

A digital Techweek

The uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 means that we have made the decision to take Techweek entirely online this year. 

While this new format means that only digital events will be part of Techweek2020, it also means that people won’t be restricted by their geographic locations so they can attend any or all of the Techweek2020 events.

Event organisers are being encouraged to re-imagine their events as virtual experiences.  We look forward to seeing a broad range of events to engage, inform and inspire Kiwis, and to help us connect to our future. 

More information

The current global space ecosystem is developing rapidly due to accelerating technologies that have democratized access to space. Space technologies today are cheaper, faster and off the shelf but only a fraction of the world leverages and participates in the current $360B+ global space industry. There is a need for capacity building as well as retraining in New Zealand to participate in this growing economy. Engaging stakeholders and support systems within a city or or region will further accelerate capacity and ecosystem building in areas that do not have established space stakeholders and support structures to catalyze growth.

This workshop will go through the initial process of understanding actionable initiatives for catalyzing a city or regions, space industry in accordance with their own local strengths and needs.

Participants will:

● Learn about trends and market opportunities in the New Space Industry

● Know how to assess national and local space market and capabilities

● Identify their own needs and requirements for growing a space industry in their region

● Identify actionable next steps

This workshop is limited to 20 participants and is geared towards local government representatives, adjacent industry decision makers, and interested space investors.

Techweek, New Zealand’s festival of technology and innovation, is going to look a little different this year. 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Techweek2020 is moving to July and will only involve digital events. 

The new dates for Techweek2020 are 27 July to 2 August. 

Moving Techweek2020 to late July gives Techweek the opportunity to be a channel and platform for positive regrowth, economic stimulation and connections during the COVID-19 recovery phase.

A digital Techweek

The uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 means that we have made the decision to take Techweek entirely online this year. 

While this new format means that only digital events will be part of Techweek2020, it also means that people won’t be restricted by their geographic locations so they can attend any or all of the Techweek2020 events.

Event organisers are being encouraged to re-imagine their events as virtual experiences.  We look forward to seeing a broad range of events to engage, inform and inspire Kiwis, and to help us connect to our future. 

More information

Techweek, New Zealand’s festival of technology and innovation, is going to look a little different this year. 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Techweek2020 is moving to July and will only involve digital events. 

The new dates for Techweek2020 are 27 July to 2 August. 

Moving Techweek2020 to late July gives Techweek the opportunity to be a channel and platform for positive regrowth, economic stimulation and connections during the COVID-19 recovery phase.

A digital Techweek

The uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 means that we have made the decision to take Techweek entirely online this year. 

While this new format means that only digital events will be part of Techweek2020, it also means that people won’t be restricted by their geographic locations so they can attend any or all of the Techweek2020 events.

Event organisers are being encouraged to re-imagine their events as virtual experiences.  We look forward to seeing a broad range of events to engage, inform and inspire Kiwis, and to help us connect to our future. 

More information

Join Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality pioneer Professor Mark Billinghurst, Dr Alys Clark and Associate Professor Suranga Nanayakkara from the Auckland Bioengineering Institute as they discuss their latest projects and vision for the future.

How can technology recognise our emotions and help us better understand what other people are seeing, hearing and feeling? How can we design devices and technologies that learn and adapt to us instead of the other way around? How can a virtual pregnancy save lives?

Professor Billinghurst is a legend in the field of AR. He developed the ARToolKit – the world’s first open-source AR software developers’ kit – ​in 2001 and has been pushing the boundaries of AR and VR technology for more than 20 years. He now leads ABI's Empathic Computing Laboratory.

Dr Alys Clark is leading an international project to create the world's first virtual pregnancy. Her team will develop this virtual model to research blood vessels in the uterus, with the goal of improving diagnoses and treatment of problems such as fetal growth restriction, where babies are born abnormally small.

Professor Suranga Nanayakkara founded the Augmented Human Lab to explore ways of creating ‘enabling’ human-computer interfaces as natural extensions of our body, mind and behaviour. He is among that rare breed of engineers that brings a sense of humanity to technology.

Techweek, New Zealand’s festival of technology and innovation, is going to look a little different this year. 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Techweek2020 is moving to July and will only involve digital events. 

The new dates for Techweek2020 are 27 July to 2 August. 

Moving Techweek2020 to late July gives Techweek the opportunity to be a channel and platform for positive regrowth, economic stimulation and connections during the COVID-19 recovery phase.

A digital Techweek

The uncertainty surrounding COVID-19 means that we have made the decision to take Techweek entirely online this year. 

While this new format means that only digital events will be part of Techweek2020, it also means that people won’t be restricted by their geographic locations so they can attend any or all of the Techweek2020 events.

Event organisers are being encouraged to re-imagine their events as virtual experiences.  We look forward to seeing a broad range of events to engage, inform and inspire Kiwis, and to help us connect to our future. 

More information