The Hidden Genius
Three outstanding Kiwi companies fit perfectly into this month's Hardware Meetup theme 'The Hidden Genius,' which aimed to showcase products and companies helping other products work better/smarter/harder.
A huge thanks goes to StretchSense, Avertana, and Teknique for speaking.
This month we welcomed new sponsors Blender Design (specialist product design and development company) and GPC Electronics (complex electronics manufacturers), and GridAKL provided us with an outstanding venue. Blender Design have also jumped onboard as a series sponsor.
Speaker #1: Todd Gisby from StretchSense
Todd Gisby is CTO of StretchSense - global leaders in the supply of smart stretch sensors for the rapidly emerging wearable technology market. Their products are making massive enhancements in fields like biotechnology, augmented reality, robotics and autonomous vehicles.
You can follow StretchSense on Twitter to keep up with their journey.
Speaker #2: James Obern from Avertana
James Obern is Commercial Director of Avertana, a very stealth company converting low-value industrial waste streams into raw materials for manufacturing, using innovative chemistry, advanced materials, and process design.
Mineral and chemical products of Avertana’s novel process are used in everyday products like paint, paper, fertilizer and building materials.
The Auckland-based company is working to create value for a range of industries, using a new approach with much lower environmental impact than existing methods.
You can read more about Avertana on their website.
Pitches From The Audience
This month we trialled something different - members of the audience could pitch something hardware related for one minute. Five people pitched in total - here's a video from Facebook Live (6 minutes in length).
Pitches were a combination of help needed and early-stage products showcased.
This is something we will be doing at all future events. If you have something to pitch, let us know.
Speaker #3: Ben Bodley From Teknique
Ben Bodley is CEO of Teknique - a company whose imaging solutions are behind many of the world's largest consumer brands. Their products help companies who are integrating cameras into their own consumer products, all the way from drones and 360 VR cameras, to IoT and Smart Home products.
Teknique are based in Albany, and were named 8th fastest growing company in New Zealand's 2016 Deloitte Fast 50.
You can learn more about Teknique here.
Other News
Our next event will be showcasing MarineTech, and is happening 9th March. You can be notified when tickets are released by signing up to our Meetup page, and following us on Twitter.
Event attendees have indicated a digital form of communication for the hardware community is needed. In response, we're trialling a Linkedin group and a Facebook group for the New Zealand's hardware ecosystem. Please join these groups, and lets continue the conversation together.
