Automation researcher nets technology funding

A PhD student intent on revolutionising New Zealand’s horticulture industry has scooped a top scholarship for his work on robotic systems. Alistair Scarfe is one of three recipients of a Dick and Mary Earle Scholarship in Technology, worth $20,000 a year for three years. The award was announced today by the New Zealand Vice-Chancellors’ Committee (NZVCC). 

Mr Scarfe, who was brought up in Wairarapa and went to Kuranui College, is studying for his PhD in Industrial Automation at the School of Engineering and Advanced Technology at the Palmerston North campus. Alistair’s thesis investigates automating fruit harvesting by means of robotic arms and carrier systems. A prototype kiwifruit harvester developed as part of the project is now nearing completion.

“I hope that my research will provide the kiwifruit industry with the technology to improve harvesting and post-harvest logistics and reduce losses to the industry by an estimated 20 percent.

“I believe that there is a real need for New Zealand to become more innovative or we face the very real danger of losing our manufacturing capacity and its related technical know-how to Asia. Automation can substantially reduce labour costs to the point where we could out-perform Asian manufacturers, and this is what is driving my research,” Mr Scarfe says.

Dick and Mary Earle, who are both Emeritus Professors at Massey University, established the scholarship in 1999 to support and encourage postgraduate research into technology. The scholarship funds an individual to undertake research towards a masters or doctorate at a New Zealand university or other research institution, in one of two fields: innovation and product development, or bioprocess technology.

The scholarship was founded on the Earle’s belief that technology is important to the wellbeing and enhancement of the social fabric of the community. Since 1999, 12 scholars have received funding.

The Dick and Mary Earle Scholarship in Technology is one of over 40 scholarships awarded each year by the NZVCC to both graduate and undergraduate students. Public Trust’s charitable services manager Lindsay Pope says the trust is very pleased that Mr Scarfe has been awarded this year’s Dick and Mary Earle Scholarship in Technology.

“His study supports the Earles’ vision to help improve the wellbeing of our society through technological research."