Techweek events - Annual Report 2025

20 June, 2026

This year’s Techweek events were held in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland and Ōtepoti Dunedin, with themes of:

• Science driving commercial growth for advanced manufacturing - Dunedin event
• New momentum for publicly funded R&D - Auckland event

The events brought together research entrepreneurs and companies to build and strengthen the networks that underpin successful commercial R&D in Aotearoa. The Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland event was hosted by Principal Investigators, Associate Dean Research Faculty of Science Professor Geoff Willmott, and Associate Dean Research Faculty of Engineering and Design, Professor Jenny Malmström at Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland (UoA). The Ōtepoti Dunedin event was hosted by Deputy Director Associate Professor Natalie Plank and opened with a formal Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka University of Otago (UoO) welcome from Emeritus Investigator and former Director Professor Richard Blaikie.

Hosting company exhibits was a highlight of the event with stimulating conversations about graduate employment, R&D partnerships, the Applied PhD scheme and commercial dynamics for deep tech start-ups.

Our Techweek collaborators, who helped with hosting and communications around the events, were:

• Faculty of Science, UoA
• Faculty of Engineering and Design, UoA
• Startup Dunedin
• Otago Innovation Limited
• Te Whai Ao Dodd-Walls Centre
• New Zealand Product Accelerator
• Return on Science and Momentum Committees
• University of Canterbury Biomolecular Interaction Centre
• MacDiarmid Emerging Scientists Association (MESA)

Our exhibitor companies were:

Jami Shepherd with Fisher and Paykel's Kayne Alward speaking at the Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland Techweek event

Jenny Malmström and Geoff Willmott at the Techweek event in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland

Auckland audience

Richard Blaikie and Natalie Plank opening the Dunedin Techweek event

Anna Garden speaking at Ōtepoti Dunedin Techweek event

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