Academy Executive Committee Elections
The following Domain Convenors have been elected unopposed:
Distinguished Professor Geoff Chase FRSNZ - Deputy Chair of the Academy Executive Committee
Geoff has a 36-year engineering sciences career, including 11 years of direct industry experiences, 22 at the University of Canterbury, where he still interacts regularly with industry. He has worked in diverse industries/areas including:
- Automotive
- Aerospace/Satellites
- Semiconductor and Micro-Device Design
- Embedded Software Engineering and Signal Processing
- Earthquake Engineering and Monitoring
- Bioengineering and Clinical Medicine
He has also founded 3+ start-up ventures and licensed technology in Earthquake Engineering and Bioengineering, consulted significantly, served as a company director, and sits on advisory panels for medical device companies. Equally, he has worked at some of the world’s largest companies and 2-person start-ups. Geoff has been the TASE Convenor for the past 3-years.
In terms of leadership, he has helped develop and lead major national/international research consortia:
• National Science Challenge SfTI, Management team and leading MedTech portfolio (2014-)
• MedTech CoRE and MedTech Translator, Deputy Director (2013-2021; 2022-)
• Two EU-NZ MedTech consortia: eTIME and DCPM: Founder, Co-leader (2012-present)
and contributed leadership via:
• Membership of corporate medical advisory boards (9-years)
• Deputy/Chair of IFAC Technical Committee on Biological and Medical Systems (13-years)
• Glycaemic Control Working Groups for major international societies (ISICEM, DTS) (7-years)
Finally, his work and leadership has been recognised by:
• Inaugural Distinguished Professor at the University of Canterbury.
• University of Canterbury Research Medal
• Auckland Research Excellence Medal
• University of Canterbury Innovation Medal
• 4+ Honorary Professorships in NZ/Internationally
• RSNZ MacDiarmid Medal
• HRC Senior Researcher Award
Geoff also holds engineering society fellowships:
• Fellow of ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers)
• Distinguished Fellow of Engineering New Zealand (DistFEngNZ)
At the Royal Society Te Apārangi, Geoff has contributed significantly through:
• Elected FRSNZ (2010)
• Marsden Fund Council (2018-2023), leading the EIS panel
• TASE Fellow Selection Committee (2011-2015; 2017-2022), as convenor 9 of 11 times.
• Multiple RSNZ Medal Committees annually
• Multiple RSNZ grant committees.
Professor Robyn Longhurst FRSNZ - Domain Convenor – Social and Behavioural Sciences
Robyn is Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic at Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato having previously been Pro Vice-Chancellor Education and Professor of Geography. She is a socio-cultural researcher who has a particular interest in gender, bodies, space and place. Topics addressed include pregnancy, mothering, sexuality, ‘visceral geographies’, body size and in more recent years, digital media, and teaching and learning.
In 2018 Robyn was appointed Fellow of Royal Society Te Apārangi, and Laureat d’honneur by the International Geographical Union. Robyn has a passion for taking on roles that help address inequality whether it be in relation to gender, race, ethnicity, culture or class. Since 2014 she has led with another senior colleague, the annual New Zealand Women in Leadership day-long session on ‘Research Leadership: Developing and Enhancing the Research Culture’ providing support for women academic leaders from all eight New Zealand universities.
Professor Cather Simpson FRSNZ - Domain Convenor – Technology, Applied Sciences and Engineering
Cather brings her experience of service on the TASE Fellowship selection panel, the Marsden EIS panel, and on Royal Society Te Apārangi medal/award committees. Cather’s leadership and governance experience includes a term as President of the New Zealand Institute of Physics, membership on the Executive of the Dodd-Walls Centre for Photonic and Quantum Technologies, and she serves or has served in an advisory role to multiple Ministries in the New Zealand Government. Currently, Cather is an Advisory Board Member for Paihau – the Robinson Research Institute and for the New Zealand Product Accelerator, Vice-Chair of Commission 17 of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, and a Director of SPIE, the International Society for Optics & Photonics.
Cather also brings a deep appreciation for and experience with Technology, Applied Science and Engineering. Her own career thus far has spanned the very fundamental to the applied and entrepreneurial. Cather received tenure at Case Western Reserve University in the USA with an NIH & NSF funded research programme that exploited femtosecond laser pulses to explore how molecules convert light into more useful forms of energy. A move to the University of Auckland in 2007 offered the opportunity to establish the Photon Factory, an ultrashort pulsed laser research facility with a mission to translate excellent photonic research into impact outside the university; she opened its doors in 2010. By the time Cather stepped down as Director at the end of 2018, they had generated $30m+ in industry-facing projects, worked with dozens of companies and government agencies, and spun out two internally award-winning companies – Engender Technologies and Orbis Diagnostics – with three more in the wings. At the end of 2018, Engender was acquired by an international parent and Cather took leave from academics to become full-time CSO for Engender Technologies. That 3-year appointment ended in December 2021, and Cather has returned to the University of Auckland alongside a part time appointment as a Partner in Pacific Channel, an investment firm that specialises in supporting hard-tech startups. Over the last 10+ years, Cather has focused upon and supported science and engineering that embraces the picture of excellence that is at the heart of TASE.