26 May 2016 Worthy winners to research new products

Two Lincoln University researchers have won a competition that will provide them with a share of $60,000 prize money to carry out their projects.

Hossein Alizadeh and Stephen Wratten were deemed winners of the inaugural Lincoln University Innovation Jumpstart Competition after pitching their research ideas to a judging panel last week.

“The competition was run by Lincoln Research and Innovation and is designed to recognise and support innovative ideas and promote research commercialisation within the University,” says Elizabeth Hopkins, Director of Lincoln Research and Innovation.

Dr Alizadeh’s proposed project involves improving fertiliser utilisation on farms and reducing related environmental damage. His research could provide a more cost-effective solution to increase nitrogen use efficiency for New Zealand farmers.

“The panel recognised the potential benefit of Dr Alizadeh’s research and felt that he identified a clear pathway to market, with relatively straight-forward commercialisation,” says Dr Hopkins.

Professor Wratten proposed a potential solution to the pest problems in the New Zealand feijoa market.

He says his project will address the severe losses to commercial feijoa production in Northland, Auckland and Waikato, due to the guava moth and the fungus anthracnose. Several feijoa businesses are considering closure as a result of the pest issue.

“The panel saw the need and urgency to address severe pest and disease pressure in this small but high-value fruit enterprise,” says Dr Hopkins.

Seven applications were submitted, of which three progressed to the next round. The finalists each gave a short pitch to the judging panel consisting of Lincoln Hub commercialisation experts from Lincoln University (Dr Hopkins), AgResearch (Greg Murison), and Plant and Food Research (David Hughes). 

The third finalist, Karl Rich, was offered alternative support in the form of commercialisation mentoring from Kiwinet.