The company we keep

Paul Harris (left) with Spark Technology’s Paul Weatherly. 

This has not escaped the Royal Society, which last year awarded Harris the RJ Scott medal for his significant contributions to the development and application of electronic devices in New Zealand.

The medal is awarded to the researcher who has made an “outstanding contribution towards the advancement of a particular branch of engineering sciences, technologies, and their applications”.

In its citation, the Royal Society acknowledged Harris’s research had “directly resulted in the establishment of three companies that manufacture equipment invented by him, with substantial economic benefit for New Zealand”.

While he appreciates the recognition, Harris is quick to point out that without the input of key industry players that saw the potential of these inventions in an industrial context, they would have likely lain idle and affected little economic benefit at all.

“It is clear that the passion and commitment of our industry partners to these projects is hugely influential in attaining successful outcomes. Without this commitment, these advances would have done little to help industry or the economy at large.”

Harris says it takes a special type of person to see the potential in research and development.

“Because of its unfamiliar nature, R&D can be deemed as risky, frontier work. It is easy to dismiss its potential for those who don’t like to put their heads above the parapet.”

Harris says Alan Sheridan, founder of International Dynamometers in Lower Hutt, is one such person. “He deserves the success and outcomes that have occurred.” IRL developed a dynamometer for tuning performance cars with International Dynamometers, which went on to become a global player.

The dynamometer’s genesis came when the New Zealand Army approached IRL’s predecessor, the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), to design a device to test the performance of tanks.

The tanks were clearly not suitable for existing rolling road technology (a device that uses rollers set in the ground on which a vehicle is tuned) so the DSIR team devised a method that involved attaching hydraulic motors to the drive shafts.

When testing cars, this has the added advantage of avoiding all performance issues associated with the interface between road and wheels and results in far more accurate measurements.

“We knew we were onto something good, and although a few companies showed interest it wasn’t until we talked to Alan Sheridan, who realised the potential of the device, that we felt comfortable it would be turned into a product for tuning cars,” says Harris.

Today International Dynamometers is a successful exporting business that sells dynamometers around the world based on this original design.

The development of Hitman, a device that uses sound waves to grade the quality of logs, would also never have been fully realised without the support of key people within Carter Holt Harvey.

Peter Carter enthusiastically championed the idea and went on to advance its take-up by industry with startup Fibre Gen. Carter put a lot of “energy and passion” into the project, says Harris.

Hitman was developed by IRL to enable the industry to best make decisions on the cutting of stems and for the grading of logs within the forest to ensure they’re processed for the most appropriate purpose (for instance veneer, structural timber or pulp), to minimise transport and processing costs. This saves the industry millions of dollars a year. Furthermore, Fibre Gen now exports Hitman devices across the world and earns valuable export dollars for New Zealand.

More recently, Harris has been developing high-resolution ultrasonic technology for imaging and detecting small cracks and imperfections within solids. “This task is difficult compared with other ultrasound technology as very high frequencies are required and complex wave types can exist.”

He is working closely with startup Spark Technology and says again it’s the vision and passion shown by founder Paul Weatherly that will ensure its success.

“These are the people who really deserve the credit. Often at huge personal cost in the short term, they put their heart, soul and sometimes even their house on the line to enable these projects to thrive in the market.”

IRL Chief Executive Shaun Coffey also lauded the efforts of the entrepreneurs but kept special praise for one of his most productive scientists.

“Time and time again Paul Harris has shown that he understands the needs of industry and because of this he has been able to focus his talents to ensure they realise significant economic benefit for New Zealand. He is an inspiration to the team of colleagues who work closely with him and is dedicated to the practical application of science and engineering.”