Hon DSc for Bob Buckley

High temperature superconductor (HTS) technology underpins new developments that allow the transmission of electricity without resistance or the loss of energy. This enables the manufacture of lighter, smaller and more efficient electrical equipment than can be achieved with existing copper wire technology.

Victoria University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Pat Walsh, says Dr Buckley (pictured right), who will graduate with an honorary Doctor of Science degree at Victoria University’s May 2011 Graduation, is at the forefront of the industry.

“Bob Buckley has played a key role in developing New Zealand’s strategy for capturing the benefits of HTS discoveries. Among his many achievements, he coinvented Bi-2223, the material used to make high temperature superconducting wires.”

Dr Buckley said he was honoured to be awarded the degree from his alma mater.

“I am particularly thankful to those who nominated me and am thrilled to be in the company of such esteemed alumni.”

He completed his PhD at Victoria University in 1979. He is also a board member of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, based at Victoria University, and the author of 100 refereed publications and nine patent applications.

In 2004 he was awarded the Royal Society of New Zealand’s prestigious technology honour, the Pickering Medal, in 2009 he won Wellingtonian of the Year in the Science and Technology category, and in 2010 he was jointly awarded the inaugural Prime Minister’s Science Prize.