We farewell from our Board our former Director Professor Richard Blaikie

11 August, 2025

Last week we farewelled from our Governance Board our former Director Professor Richard Blaikie.

Professor Richard Blaikie

Speaking at Richard’s farewell, our Board Chair Hēmi Rolleston said it was his absolute honour to acknowledge the awesome mahi Richard had done for the Institute over more than two decades.

‘I salute Richard for his leadership, resilience and dedication to the Institute over more than 23 years.’

Hēmi said that Richard was instrumental in the first joint CoRE bid, along with Sir Paul Callaghan and others, for the first round of CoRE funding in 2002 which led to the MacDiarmid Institute being founded.

'Richard was the first Deputy Director of the MacDiarmid Institute, from 2002 until 2007 and then Director of the MacDiarmid Institute from 2008 until 2011, following which he was a Principal Investigator until moving to Emeritus Investigator status in 2016', Hēmi said.

Hēmi also acknowledged Richard for his role as University of Otago representative on the MI Governance Board since 2017.

‘As we say farewell I particularly want to mention my early days on the Board with Richard when we were looking at next tranche of Principal Investigators for the Institute. Richard told me I needed to be on the panel as he felt it was time for Māori Principal Investigators to be brought into the Institute, and that we needed to advocate and carve a path in the criteria for them. The fruits of that mahi are now coming through as a result of his leadership.’

I salute Richard for his leadership, resilience and dedication to the Institute over 23 years.
Hēmi Rolleston Board Chair

MacDiarmid Institute Director Professor Nicola Gaston acknowledged the exceptional research Richard led over his career, and its importance to the current work of the Institute’s Future Computing research programme.

‘Richard, who stays on in his role as an Emeritus Investigator with the Institute, is an international expert in nano-optics and brought this focus on nanotechnology – specifically studying how to make really really small things – into the Institute from the start. He developed the area of subwavelength lithography – showing that light can be manipulated to make nanostructures that are much smaller than the wavelength of the light itself – using plasmonic materials (like silver) to go beyond the diffraction limit.

‘This research, and its immediate relevance to the manufacture of precise nanostructures in the electronics industry, is an important precursor to the Institute’s current Future Computing research programme.’

Richard is an international expert in nano-optics and brought this focus on nanotechnology – specifically studying how to make really really small things – into the Institute from the start.
Professor Nicola Gaston MacDiarmid Institute Director

Hēmi said that Richard was also a good friend of Hēmi’s late Uncle Professor Angus Macfarlane and that this was the first connection they had when Hēmi joined the Board.

‘Richard, it’s been a great shift, and I salute you for your leadership, resilience and dedication. It was an honour to present to you a toki which acknowledges the mana and wairua you brought to the institute over many many years.’

Richard's research, and its immediate relevance to the manufacture of precise nanostructures in the electronics industry, is an important precursor to the Institute’s current Future Computing research programme.
Professor Nicola Gaston MacDiarmid Institute Director

Tags: Towards Low Energy Tech - Hardware for Future Computing, Pūtaiao Māori Research Programme