Smart gels to stop bleeding, heat reflecting paints and nanomaterials made from fish eyes and are just a few of the high-tech ventures receiving funding in the latest government investment round.
The Government is injecting $92 million into research that will help grow the high-tech manufacturing sector in New Zealand. The funding for High Value Manufacturing projects, announced this week, represents the second and final set of projects to be funded through the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s 2012 science investment round. Funded projects in other categories such as Biological Industries and Environment were announced last month.
The full list of High Value Manufacturing projects funded in the 2012 round can be found here.
The projects range from medical technologies like early cancer-detection technology and smart gels to stop bleeding, to novel materials like nano-technology insulation.
“The projects that are being funded have significant export potential. Our top ten high-tech companies export $4 billion of product a year but we need more businesses to grow to this size,” Mr Joyce said in a media statement.
“Growing innovation in New Zealand is vital to creating a better performing economy and improving our standard of living,”
The 31 successful research projects resulted from a contestable process where research organisations bid for available funding. All proposals were reviewed by independent experts, with the successful applicants selected by MBIE’s Science Board.