Emma Tucker writes in deZeen that bicycle company Brompton has borrowed Formula One racing technology to create an electric version of its bestselling folding bike.

Aimed at easing city dwellers' commutes, the Brompton Electric relies on a battery that clips onto the front of the bike and stores away into a separate bag for easy carrying.

Brompton partnered with Williams Advanced Engineering – part of the Williams Group, which also owns the Williams Martini Racing Formula One team – to develop the bike's bespoke motor.

It is calling Brompton Electric the most technically advanced model it has ever produced. 

"We've spent five years taking Williams Racing technology and integrating it into the Brompton," said company CEO Will Butler-Adams.

"It has been harder than any of us imagined but we believe we have created a product that will inspire more people to get out from under the ground, out of their cars and back onto a bike to rediscover their cities."

Brompton's folding frames date back to 1975, when Andrew Ritchie built the first one in his flat in London. The brand opened its first factory in 1988, and today makes more than 45,000 folding bikes each year – making it the UK's largest cycle manufacturer.

Aimed at city dwellers, Brompton bikes fold up to a third of their size, so can be carried on trains by commuters, or packed into the boot of a car.

While a typical Brompton weighs between nine and 13 kilograms, depending on the model, the Brompton Electric has a weight of 16 kilograms. However the 2.8-kilogram battery can be removed and carried separately, to make it easier to use.

"The vision for the Brompton Electric was to make a product that was as light as possible without sacrificing durability, and was extremely compact," said chief design and engineering officer Will Carleysmith.

The Brompton Electric can run for up to 50 miles on a single charge, and there are three power assistance levels for cyclists to choose from.

Brompton has also released an accompanying smartphone app, that lets users track their mileage and customise settings for the bike.

The decision to launch the bike was fuelled by the increasing demand for e-bike ownership across mainland Europe. This trend has resulted in several new launches, from Pininfarina's sports-car-inspired design, to KiBiSi's lightweight OKO bicycle.

According to Brompton, sales in cities remain behind the trend, because customers lack safe places to keep bicycles. Because of this, it is calling the Brompton Electric a "game changer".

The Brompton Electric is now available to be reserved – as either two or six speed versions, in white or black – and the first models will be shipped in early 2018.

| A deZeen release  || August 2,  2017   |||

When American Matthew Monahan first visited New Zealand, the Silicon Valley software developer was struck by a sense of possibility. Seven years later, the 33-year-old is helping the government lure other foreign entrepreneurs to the bottom of the world. It’s not a tough sell: the country’s strong economy, relative safety, political stability and famous natural beauty attracted a record 131,000 migrants in the year to June.

“It feels like you can do things in New Zealand you can’t do anywhere else,” said Monahan, who in 2012 sold the family history website he created with brother Brian for $100 million and today owns several properties near capital city Wellington.

REad the full article in BloombergPolitics written by Matthew Brockettand Tracy Withers

|  A Bloomberg release  ||  August 1,  2017   |||

Living up to New Zealand’s reputation as a standout digital nation, the tech sector and the government will stage a major international tech summit in Auckland next year, NZTech chief executive Graeme Muller says.

The Digital Nations conference on February 18 and 19 2018 will be a forerunner to the Digital 5 summit to be held later that week in Wellington.

The D5 is a network of the world’s most advanced digital nations, with a shared goal of strengthening the digital economy. It was founded in London in 2014 by the United Kingdom, Estonia, Israel, New Zealand and South Korea.

The D5 provides a focused forum to share best practice, identify how to improve the member-countries’ digital services, collaborate on common projects and to support and champion our growing digital economies.

Muller says NZTech and event partner Conferenz, are working with government to bring some of the best international digital leaders to New Zealand to pick their brains for great ideas that can help make New Zealand more prosperous.

His comments come hard on the heels of the 2017 Digital Planet report by the Fletcher School at Tufts University that shows New Zealand is one of the world’s leading digital nations.

“The Digital Nations conference next year provides a unique opportunity to bring together New Zealand’s digital leaders, with international experts, business leaders, societal change agents and policy makers to envision what New Zealand could look like as a digital nation by 2030, and then agree on investments and policy to help us get there.

“By listening to the plans of other leading nations and then working on what it could mean for New Zealand’s education, health and financial systems, our productive sectors and the society, should help us move together as a country towards a more prosperous future during a period of profound change.

“NZTech is pleased with the close and proactive partnership with in the Department of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment as industry and government work together to prepare New Zealand for a tech focused future.

“New Zealand’s innovation ecosystem and institutional environment are both noted as strengths for New Zealand in the 2017 Digital Planet report and this Digital Nations conference partnership between industry and government is a great example of why we are seen as a leading country,” Muller says.

The Digital Nations conference is expected to attract more than 300 people including D5 Ministers and their delegations, invited international government representatives and New Zealand digital leaders and influencers representing all sectors.

| A Make lemonade release  ||  July 26,  2017   |||

Hawaiki Cable has chosen 81year old Northland based electrotechnology company McKay Ltd to build its cable landing station at Mangawhai Heads in Northland, signing a multimillion dollar contract with the company.

Hawaiki said McKay would be responsible for the complete civil, building, electrical, standby generation, AC and DC UPS systems, and HVAC systems.

McKay’s managing director, Lindsay Faithfull, said Hawaiki had very particular requirements and the company had come up with “a unique Northland based solution that included our local partners and met Hawaiki’s needs.”

Construction of the 14,000 kilometre cable that will link New Zealand to Australia, Hawaii and mainland United States started with a ground breaking ceremony at Bream Trail Farm in Mangawhai Heads last November. The system is scheduled to be in service by June 2018.

Hawaiki announced in May that 90 percent of the 14,000km of cable required for the system had been completed, along with 150 repeaters.

When it announced the contract with McKay, Hawaiki said the cable would have options to expand to several South Pacific islands. It has been promoting these since launch of the project and early route maps showed dotted links to Samoa and American Samoa, Wallis, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Norfolk Island. However the current map on its web site shows a link to American Samoa only.

Norfolk Island is very close Hawaiki’s route and the island’s community, backed by One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson, has urged the Federal Government to fund a link to the island, but to no avail. The government, it seems is unwilling to stump up the $A1m to provide a branching unit that would enable connection at a later date.

TriWorlds Pty Ltd, a Norfolk Island company lobbying for the extension, said in November “Australia has recently provided $US1.5m to Samoa for a similar cable connection. A cable branching unit to Norfolk Island could be secured for less than $A1m as insurance to ‘future proof’ the island by allowing it the chance to connect later.”

It added that Hawaiki Cable had given a final deadline of 15th December 2016 for Australia to commit to a Norfolk Island connection

| A Computerworld release  ||  July 20,  2017   |||

Emirates Team New Zealand’s (ETNZ) win of the America’s Cup is a tremendous sporting victory, but it is also a victory for brand New Zealand, particularly when it comes to shifting international perception of who we are as a country. While the common associations with beautiful scenery and amazing food are positive, we know that as a country, we have so much more to offer the world.

The America’s Cup has helped position us as a smart and innovative nation, filled with entrepreneurs and world-leading tech companies. That’s’ because off the back of ETNZ’s incredible win, there’s an extraordinary story to tell about some of the New Zealand companies whose technology has played a role in helping return the Auld Mug to our shores.

Continue to the full article published in the July Edition of NZManufacturer - Released Thursday 20 July 2017g

Following a two-year hiatus, the Google Glass augmented-reality headset has made a comeback, and is being targeted exclusively at businesses.

Google suspended sales of Glass at the start of 2015 in order to rethink its development.

But yesterday, the team behind the wearable made an announcement on Medium that after a two-year testing period, the headset – now named Glass Enterprise Edition – is being made available to all businesses.

This could see Glass become a competitor to other augmented-reality headsets already on the market, such as Microsoft's HoloLens, which is already favoured by the architecture and design industries.

"Glass, as you might remember, is a very small, lightweight wearable computer with a transparent display that brings information into your line of sight," project lead Jay Kothari wrote in the post.

"In a work setting, you can clip it onto glasses or industry frames like safety goggles so you don't have to switch focus between what you're doing with your hands and the content you need to see to do your job."

The updated design appears much the same as the original, but Kothari says the battery life is improved, and that it is lighter and more comfortable to wear for long periods of time.

Kothari also revealed that a two-year testing period had seen over 50 businesses across the manufacturing, logistics, field services and healthcare industries implement Glass into their working process.

Among them were DHL, Boeing and Volkswagen, which all reported positive feedback from workers – something that prompted Google to make it a widely available business tool.

"We first saw signs of Glass' potential for businesses in the Glass Explorer days," said Kothari. "We're looking forward to seeing more businesses give their workers a way to work faster and in a more focused way, hands-free."

Augmented-reality tools are already being used in some architecture and design practices. Greg Lynn, who used Microsoft HoloLens to design his contribution to the US Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2016, told Dezeen that the technology was set to "change the way architects work".

Glass has proved controversial since it was previewed in 2013. After it was unveiled, the UK government considered banning drivers from using the augmented reality eyewear behind the wheel of their car.

In March 2014, the headsets hit the headlines again when a woman was attacked in a San Francisco bar for wearing the device and the technology was accused of "killing" the city.

|  A deZEEN release  ||  July 19,  2017   |||

The substantial growth of the country’s umbrella tech organisation NZTech is indicative of the rapid expansion of the nation’s fastest growing industry, says its chief executive Graeme Muller. NZTech has its eighth annual meeting in Auckland today and NZTech now represents more than 400 organisations across the New Zealand technology landscape who collectively employ 100,000 people. “Our members are startups, local tech firms, multinationals, education providers, financial institutions, major corporations, network providers and high-tech manufacturers. Our goal is to stimulate an environment where technology provides important social and economic benefits for New Zealand,” Muller says. “There is significant growing awareness of the importance of technology for New Zealand’s future prosperity, not just as a sector, but its impact throughout our economy. “NZTech will continue to raise the profile of the tech sector as a place to work, a place to create and export ideas and as a critical pillar of the New Zealand economy. “Technology is critical for the future prosperity of New Zealand. The tech sector now employs six percent of the country’s workforce. It is the fastest growing segment of our economy generating eight percent of our GDP and nine percent of our exports. “However, it is the actual use of technology that will truly drive prosperity for New Zealand. Better use of the Internet could result in $34 billion in economic growth, better use of IoT could be worth more than $2.2 billion across nine use cases alone and smarter use of data could be worth $4.5 billion.” Board chair Mitchell Pham says NZTech’s rapid expansion can be seen in national alliances with the new AI Forum, FinTechNZ, IoT Alliance and NZTech startups communities. “Our existing regional connections such as with Canterbury continue to strengthen, while new ones being fostered and developed include the Bay of Plenty and Waikato,” Pham says. “The government continues to be actively involved with the tech sector as we work together to develop our international positioning as a leading digital nation,” he says.

Planning is already underway to expand NZTech's Techweek festival in 2018 to attract hundreds of international investors and tech talent to New Zealand's showcase tech and innovation event next May.

|  A MakeLemonade release  ||  July 20  2017   |||

Scientists are working hard to determine the how, why and when of earthquakes, but getting answers is a complex team effort, says a Victoria University of Wellington geophysicist.

image004.jpgIt’s 30 years since John Townend recalls first experiencing a big earthquake—the magnitude 6.5 Edgecumbe earthquake, which struck in March 1987 less than 100 kilometres from his high school in Rotorua.

The Professor of Geophysics and Head of Victoria’s School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences has been studying the physics of earthquakes ever since.

The last few years have seen Professor Townend called on many times for his expertise, most recently following the magnitude 7.8 Kaikoura earthquake in November 2016 when he provided expert commentary in the media explaining what had happened and what was likely to come.

As he will discuss in his upcoming inaugural professorial lecture, recent observations of large and small earthquakes in New Zealand and worldwide have hugely expanded geoscientific knowledge.

“The basic problem is that the big earthquakes we’re concerned about as a society and which we most want to understand occur infrequently, whereas the little ones don’t have much effect but occur often enough to test and refine our ideas,” says Professor Townend.

“To really understand how the earthquake machine operates, we need to combine measurements and theory spanning many orders of magnitude. Working out what is happening is a community effort—many different types of observation and scientific expertise are required.”

In his lecture, Professor Townend will discuss what faults look like at different scales, and what we do and don’t know about how earthquakes are generated and how they interact.

“Projects like the Deep Fault Drilling Project, which drilled nearly 900 metres into the South Island's Alpine Fault, are helping us understand the health of a major fault—the temperatures, pressures, and stresses it’s subjected to—before an expected large earthquake occurs,” he says.

The Alpine Fault produces earthquakes of around magnitude 8 approximately every 300 years and last ruptured in 1717 AD, says Professor Townend, so understanding what processes control the rupture and reloading of the fault is an urgent scientific and societal challenge.

eanwhile, data collected during and after the Kaikoura earthquake reveal to seismologists just how finely balanced some faults are.

“The Kaikoura earthquake triggered earthquakes and deep slow slip extending hundreds of kilometres along the Hikurangi subduction zone, below the east coast of the North Island. It’s important that we improve our understanding of what factors make different faults susceptible to slip and what factors control the sizes of the earthquakes that result,” says Professor Townend.

“In a country as geologically young and complex as Aotearoa, earthquakes provide a regular and sometimes devastating reminder that the Earth is in motion.” When: 6pm, Tuesday 25 JulyWhere: Lecture Theatre 303, Kirk Building, Kelburn Campus, Victoria University of WellingtonRSVP: Before Friday 21 July. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with ‘Townend’ in the subject line for the link to register or phone 04-463 7458. For more information contact Professor John Townend on 04-463 5411 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

At two minutes after midnight on May 12th, the hyperloop became a little bit less of a pipe dream and little bit more of a reality. On that day, the Los Angeles-based startup Hyperloop One conducted the first full-system test of its technology in the desert north of Las Vegas. As several dozen of the company’s engineers and executives watched an array of monitors nervously, a metal sled accelerated to 70 mph (112 km/h), achieved levitation, and flew about 500 feet (152 meters) down the length of a 1,600-foot (487-meter) steel tube that had most of the air sucked out of it.

On the surface, it seemed like a nondescript event, but nonetheless the group broke out into ecstatic cheers. Hyperloop One co-founder and chief engineer Josh Giegel nervously fumbled with a bottle of champagne as he thanked his wife, while executive chairman Shervin Pishevar wiped away tears.

A little more than two months later, Giegel and Pishevar sat down with me in a private club in midtown Manhattan to talk about that day — and more importantly, what comes next. The elation of that moment had worn off, and both men were eager to get back to work on their dream of building the world’s first hyperloop system. The concept of nearly supersonic travel through hundreds of miles of vacuum-sealed tubes will always seem outlandish to most people. But then again, most people haven’t heard of Hyperloop One.

Continue to read the full article . . .

A buoy with the ability to “phone home” has been deployed in Wellington Harbour today to monitor currents, waves and water quality in the harbour.

The buoy is part of a joint project between NIWA and Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) around monitoring Wellington Harbour health. The buoy can deliver real time data of currents, waves, salinity, temperature, oxygen, chlorophyll, ocean acidification and wind. Named WRIBO (Wellington Region Integrated Buoy Observations), it was deployed from NIWA’s flagship research vessel Tangaroa this morning, south east of Matiu/Somes Island.

Real time data delivery

NIWA coastal physicist Dr Joanne O’Callaghan has been leading the project and says the buoy’s key advantage is the ability to deliver information immediately.

“The buoy makes a phone call to a computer and sends back data of up-to-date conditions in the Harbour. This means we don’t have to wait for good weather to collect the data which is never easy in Wellington.”

The buoy is three metres high and powered by solar panels. It has been constructed by NIWA’s mooring technician Mike Brewer over several weeks at Greta Point and is the most complicated of its kind in New Zealand waters.

One of its key roles will be to monitor plumes from the Hutt River that wash into the harbour following heavy rain. These plumes carry sediments and nutrients from the Hutt catchment to the Harbour.

“We have not sampled the Harbour routinely before and this will help us learn how much the river influences the harbour waters,” Dr O’Callaghan says.

Analysing water quality in plumes

A number of instruments will be attached to the buoy to enable scientists to analyse Harbour response at various depths. River plumes are only one to two metres thick so there is an instrument just under the surface to capture it. Waves and currents move sediments during storms so there is an instrument near the seabed and two more through the water to know the size of the impact.

“The plumes last for three to five days but the material is in the system for much longer.”

A trial buoy was deployed last September and found that surface salinity in the Harbour gets very fresh after large amounts of rain from events such as cyclones. Water quality instruments observed an algal bloom after ex-tropical cyclones Debbie and Cook.

GWRC coastal scientist Dr Claire Conwell says this is the beginning of a dedicated water quality monitoring programme for Wellington Harbour and the region’s coastal marine area.

“This information will help us to make links between the freshwater and marine environments, and to assess the impacts on water quality of land-based activities,” Dr Conwell says.

“A key focus for us is to also make the data accessible, so we’ll be working with the NIWA team after the buoy is deployed to get the data streaming via our respective websites. In the long run, we’d like to see this sit alongside other data from buoys across New Zealand, forming part of a national network.”

Contact

Dr Joanne O’Callaghan, NIWA coastal physicistPh 04 386 0466

Dr Claire Conwell, Greater Wellington Coastal ScientistPh 04 830 4216

|A NIWA release  ||  July 10,  2017   |||