An associate Professor at Massey University, Simon Hall, has won the annual Fonterra Prize, awarded by the Institute of Chemistry.
The prize was given for his research and commercialisation of a rechargeable nickel-zinc battery , and was presented at an awards function staged by the national science academy, the Royal Society, in Wellington last night at Te Papa.
The citation for the award said Prof Hall showed a rare combination of talents: "Few others have been brave enough to step out of the academic environment and take the risks necessary to commercialise their findings."
He was an electrochemist at the MacDiarmid Institute when with Dr Michael Liu he began research in 1997 which is reported to be set to significantly disrupt the $US200 billion global battery market with a battery that lasts four times the life of a lead-acid battery and can be recharged through 1200 cycles.
The Cooper Medal for physics was awarded by the Royal Society to the superconductor cable team of state science company Industrial Research Ltd: Nicholas Long, Rod Badcock, Peter Beck, Marc Mulholland, Nigel Ross, Michael Staines, Henry Sun, Dr James Hamilton and Robert Buckley
This group developed a practical method for manufacturing 10 narrow strands at a time from wide superconductor cable made of a ceramic yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO).
Their YBCO "roebel" cable can be used in the high-current windings of generators and transformers and a joint venture between IRL and a multinational, General Cable Corporation, is establishing a prototype facility in Christchurch to manufacture the cable.
The Marine Sciences Society award went to Malcolm Francis, a fisheries biologist at the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa), an ecologist who is the nation's top shark researcher.
Dr Francis, an active scientific researcher, diver and underwater photographer for more than 30 years, was recognised for his "huge contribution" to marine science in both knowledge and stunning underwater photography.
The McKenzie Award from the Association for Research in Education was listed for the late John Codd, an Emeritus Professor at Massey University whose research in the area of education policy provided the basis for intelligent analysis of education reforms.
A Mathematical Society award to Professor Mike Hendy, at Massey University's Allan Wilson Centre, recognised his innovative mathematical approach to molecular ecology and evolution which has transformed the field.
Researchers have used Professor Hendy's mathematics to analyse the DNA of native birds and change views of the evolution of NZ fauna.
The inaugural Dan Walls medal was awarded by the Institute of Physics to mark the impact of Professor Paul Callaghan, of Victoria University, both nationally and internationally.
A world leader in the field of nuclear magnetic resonance, Prof Callaghan has developed ways to study fluids and organisation in not only polymers but biological tissue.
The Thomson medal for leadership in the management of science went to the chief executive of Agresearch, Andrew West, who helped then Science Minister Simon Upton rejig state-funded science in 1992. "Gold Crest" awards awarded by the Royal Society for innovation and creativity in problem solving were given to Jessie Lineham, of Invercargill, for her riparian planting project, and Emma Adlam, of Auckland for analysis alternative energy sources for providing household power.
The Roger Slack award for plant biology by a young scientist went to Dr Tina Summerfield, of Otago University, for her work on the symbiosis between bacteria, fungi and plants.
