Those attending the networking event will be surrounded by autonomous machines manufacturing everything from prosthetics to aerospace components.
Tickets are expected to sell out for the 150-person event on April 4, which will celebrate the diversity of hi-tech companies in Otago.
The function will coincide with the NZ Hi-Tech board meeting being held in the city.
Animation Research founder Sir Ian Taylor is a board member.
Former Dunedin resident Ryan Ashton, who works with the NZ Hi-Tech Trust, approached United Machinists chief executive Sarah Ramsay about hosting the networking event.
Mrs Ramsay agreed, saying it was ideal to hold it in a workshop so those attending were fully immersed in hi-tech manufacturing.
Forget "a bunch of overalls and grease" — they would see a world-class manufacturing facility, she said.
Entries for the awards close on Monday, and Mrs Ramsay said it was hoped there would be a record number from the South highlighted at the event.
The NZ Hi-Tech Awards recognise the achievers in the hi-tech industry from the start-up and emerging categories through to the PwC Hi-Tech Company of the Year, which was won in 2022 by Christchurch-based Seequent, which developed and deployed New Zealand technology to developers in more than 100 countries in a broad range of sectors, delivering advanced geoscience analysis and modelling to enable a deeper understanding of the earth.
Mrs Ramsay said it was "awesome" to put Dunedin on the map through the awards.
There had been some high-profile winners in the past from the South, including software company Timely and Sir Ian.
There were some "incredible" tech stories in the city, but it was not very good at blowing its own trumpet, she said.
She was a huge advocate of advanced manufacturing but there was not a category for that in the awards.
This year, United Machinists would be entering best contributor to hi-tech.
She hoped other Dunedin and Otago businesses would also enter.
The gala dinner, where the winners are announced, will be held in Christchurch on June 23.
This year also sees the expansion of the NZ Hi-Tech Foundation.
The foundation’s He Whetū Mārama Ngā Karahipi/Leading Light Scholarship Programme provides financial support for career development and advancement of technology students, and is designed to help increase diversity in the sector.
Each year, five successful applicants are awarded up to $5000 each to cover their tuition and living costs.
