Judges commented that the quality of entrants this year was very high which made it difficult for them to make their decisions. They were impressed by the breadth of talent and the number of young innovators involved saying the future of ag innovation looks stronger than ever.
The Fieldays Innovation Awards are supported by a team of knowledgeable, passionate and well-connected organisations with three new partners being added to the already impressive group.
Amazon Web Services (AWS), Gait International and James & Wells join Vodafone NZ, Callaghan Innovation and Massey University to form the strong team of sponsors fostering New Zealand agricultural innovations in the Fieldays Innovation Awards.
Fieldays 2019 Innovation Award winners:
Fieldays Grassroots Prototype Award – PICMI
PICMI removes the need for paperwork when hiring staff. The platform enables employers to personalise & manage their on-boarding process saving time and money whilst acting as an intermediary between employee and employer.
PICMI was the star of the show receiving three awards for their innovation. Inspired by problems faced personally, she fought to find a solution to the problem of finding seasonal workers, funding the innovation from their house deposit she developed her inspired idea.
Fieldays Grassroots Established Award – Imaginus Ltd
Imaginus Ltd’s animal health innovation involves a unique prototype design for a packaging and delivery system for intramammary dry cow treatments and teat sealants. They focused on environmental sustainability and the reduction of plastic packaging (compared to traditional alternatives) and reduction of labour and costs the key benefits.
Imaginus utilised their knowledge in a variety of industries to develop a faster, safer and more environmentally friendly solution to an important dairy task.
Fieldays Launch NZ Award – Future Post
Future Post have invented an environmentally friendly fence post made from 100% recycled plastics; their innovation boasts a stronger build with more durability than traditional fence post designs.
Judges said this product provides a way for farmers to participate in addressing what is a massive environmental problem for New Zealand. This is a positive and potential game changing step towards dealing with New Zealand’s plastic recycling challenge.
Fieldays Innovations Partners Awards:
- Young Innovator of the Year – St Paul’s Collegiate School with ‘Bobble Trough’. Judges said they were impressed with their development process, their use of external expertise, their understanding of IP and of course their solution
- Vodafone Innovation Technology Award – PICMI
- AWS Innovation in Data – Riverwatch
- Sprout Global Growth Award – Matrex® Blockchain
- James & Wells Innovation Award – PICMI
- Gait International Award for Product Design and Scalability – Modusense Ltd
- Callaghan Innovation Partnership and Collaboration Award – Aepea
Celebrating innovation continues through to the International Business Networker where the announcement for the Fieldays International Innovation Award will be announced.