MESA commercialisation report - Annual Report 2024

2 July, 2025

Our two MacDiarmid Emerging Scientists Association (MESA) Commercialisation and Industry Engagement (CIE) Representatives, Sam Harris (Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka University of Otago) and Aston Pearcy (Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington), have had an enjoyable and fruitful year in their roles.

Along with Brooke Matthews and Winter Zakaria, Sam and Aston have supported the development and delivery of several engaging CRISP workshops, at both a stand-alone CRISP event and the MacDiarmid Institute annual symposium. These workshops were accompanied by site visits to Liquium, Marama Labs, BioOra, OpenStar Technologies, Bspkl and Hot Lime Labs. These CRISP sessions and site visits help prepare students for success in potential careers in deep tech start-ups or commercial R&D.

Sam and Aston supported the planning and had the privilege of attending Techweek at Parliament, with the theme 'NZ Science Forging Global Cleantech Solutions', at which the 2024 NZ Cleantech Report was released. Later in the year they attended the Nexus Summit, where they were able to learn from, and network with, commercialisation professionals in the ecosystem. It was great to represent the MacDiarmid Institute at this event and to spread awareness of MESA to this community. This summit was followed by the KiwiNet Awards, which was an excellent chance to speak with academics, investors, and entrepreneurs in deep tech, and to see the exciting innovations taking place.

Sam and Aston would like to welcome Ghadir Dahalan and William Sheard to the CIE roles for next year, as both Sam and Aston are moving onto future endeavours.

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