23 March 2006 Top honour for Lincoln Ventures head

 

 

Graeme Robertson received the prestigious award at a black tie dinner in Wellington yesterday [March 23]. Distinguished Fellows are acknowledged for their substantive contribution to the development of the engineering profession, its practices, or IPENZ itself.

 

Robertson, who joined Lincoln Ventures Ltd in December 2005, says he is delighted to join a group of professionals he knows well and holds in high regard.

 

After his graduation in 1968 with a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering, Robertson worked in the timber processing industry, initially as a process engineer for Tasman Pulp and Paper Company Ltd at Kawerau. After four years of research engineering in Sweden he returned to New Zealand in 1974 to join New Zealand Forest Products Pulp and Paper Ltd as senior process engineer, and was made manager of the Kinleith Technical Department in 1980. In 1988 he joined the Nelson-based Cawthron Institute, where he served as Chief Executive Officer until his appointment with Lincoln Ventures.

 

At Cawthron, Robertson is remembered for establishing an internationally recognised aquatic research centre and forging strong industry partnerships, with the New Zealand mussel industry in particular.

 

Robertson says he intends to apply the same management philosophy at Lincoln Ventures. 

 

“My role is about creating the environment in which ideas flourish and flow from all parts of the organisation. The challenge for me is to take a highly successful organisation and help grow the more commercial side of the business in a way that fits the culture and plays to its strengths.

 

“I will be looking closely at the relationship with Lincoln University, looking for new opportunities across the campus and the research community in the Lincoln area, trying to make the most of the synergies which already exist.”

 

He says Lincoln Ventures allows him to operate where he is most comfortable and effective, “in the space between the researchers and the users of new technologies.”

 

“This organisation has an excellent reputation and that’s almost entirely due to the quality of the people here. They are highly specialised, difficult to keep up with, and are not afraid to give their CEO a hard time. I want to encourage their independence and creativity, so that they always enjoy coming to work.

 

“My other major priority is to increase revenue from commercial research and the commercialisation of new discoveries and technologies. We need to build on our achievements in gaining FRST funding, using it as a springboard for further growth and development." 

 

Robertson says a relatively small organisation such as Lincoln Ventures can work effectively to build collaboration between research agencies. The flagship Integrated Research for Aquifer Protection project (IRAP), for example, brings together specialists from a range of public and private research agencies. Lincoln Ventures is at the centre of efforts to develop farm management software for modelling impacts on groundwater under various production scenarios.