MATERIALise 2018

23 June, 2019

Last October we held a one-day forum "Materialise: a sustainable future." 

We asked four international materials scientists as well as New Zealand iwi, science, industry and government thought leaders to come to Te Papa in Wellington to talk about the key challenges for a sustainable future, and how their work was meeting this challenge. 250 iwi, policy makers, scientists, and industry people came along to hear them.

To ensure a sustainable future, we need to create new materials that can store or transform different forms of energy with little loss. Professor Amy Prieto works towards integrating sustainable manufacturing with basic energy research as Founder and CTO of Prieto Battery.

Computers also need to be powerful to ensure information flows freely while not burning up our climate with their energy use. Professor Michael Fuhrer discusses his work as director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Future Low-Energy Technologies (FLEET) to sustainably continue the information technology revolution with low-energy electronics.

Materials also need to be made from abundant and clean sources, and be reused and recycled at the end of their life to ensure food, energy, and fresh water security for all. Dr Anita Hill, executive director of future industries at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial research Organisation (CSIRO) in Australia, shares her vision of the recycling bin of the future. Kit Cummins, professor at MIT, also discusses his work uncovering the origin story of phosphorus from the stars to land and sea.