News of New Zealanders via Global Media

Air NZ Partners with Larry Page on Electric Air Taxis

Air NZ Partners with Larry Page on Electric Air Taxis

Air New Zealand has announced plans to “partner with Zephyr Airworks, a flying car startup backed by Google co-founder Larry Page, ‘to make autonomous, electric air travel a reality for all New Zealanders,’” writes…

Rocket Lab Unveils New Production Facility

Rocket Lab Unveils New Production Facility

“Rocket Lab has expanded its global footprint with the unveiling of a new production facility that ‘rethinks the way orbital rockets are built’”. Space Tech Asia reports. “The new 7,500 sq/m…

Air NZ Debuts Magic Leap Virtual Reality Game

Air NZ Debuts Magic Leap Virtual Reality Game

“Air New Zealand has ventured into the world of virtual reality marketing with its Fact or Fantasy concept game that features a world where people witness a giant kauri tree grow, meet a grumpy…

Farmer Doug Avery in Scotland Speaking On Drought

Farmer Doug Avery in Scotland Speaking On Drought

New Zealander Doug Avery, known as ‘The Resilient Farmer’, recently spoke about having endured the worst drought “in living memory” at a tour jointly organised by The Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland…

How Magic Leap Is Making the Magic

How Magic Leap Is Making the Magic

“When I met Rony Abovitz at Magic Leap’s Developer Conference (aka LEAPCon) in downtown Los Angeles yesterday, I told him it was like meeting all four Beatles at once. He’s defined for me and…

Startup Soul Machines Puts Human Face on AI

Startup Soul Machines Puts Human Face on AI

New Zealand-based startup Soul Machines has so far created 15 humanoids – disembodied screen presences – like Lia, employed mainly as customer service assistants. They work in seven countries for companies including Royal Bank…

Milk from Deer Causing a Stir

Milk from Deer Causing a Stir

Excitement is building among New Zealand’s high-end chefs over a new world-first. Deer milk is now being sourced from 70 hinds in Southland to make cheese, desserts and even yoghurt. The company behind the…

Claudia King’s Automio Shaking Up Tech World

Claudia King’s Automio Shaking Up Tech World

New Plymouth-based legal tech startup Automio, which was founded by Claudia King, has made the Forbes’ list of 60 women-led tech companies, “shaking up” technology across the world. Allyson Kapin, a contributor at Forbes, recommends: researching…

Peter Beck is Changing the Launch Equation

Peter Beck is Changing the Launch Equation

Rocket Lab is aiming high. The California-based company, founded in New Zealand by Peter Beck, plans to make space much more accessible via its 17m Electron rocket, which can loft about 225kg of payload…

Four-Day Work Week Trial Run Finds ‘No Downside’

Four-Day Work Week Trial Run Finds ‘No Downside’

New Zealand financial services firm Perpetual Guardian “has made a four-day work week permanent protocol after a trial run found “no downside,” company founder Andrew Barnes announced this week,” writes Marisa Dellatto in an…

Kester Black’s Anna Ross Designs for Disney

Kester Black’s Anna Ross Designs for Disney

Ethical nail polish company Kester Black has created a one-off custom range in partnership with Disney to celebrate Mickey Mouse’s 90th birthday. Australian city guide Broadsheet talks to founder, New Zealander

Investigating the Visionary Inventor Richard Pearse

Investigating the Visionary Inventor Richard Pearse

“Richard Pearse, a New Zealander, is remarkable for very nearly being the first to fly under power and control. The more remarkable for also designing and making the engine for the aircraft,” Joseph May…

Ocean Rower Kathy Tracey Speaks on Leadership

Ocean Rower Kathy Tracey Speaks on Leadership

In 2005, New Zealander Kathy Tracey, along with three women from the UK, pitted themselves against the might of the ocean on a 4700km historic journey. The now 56-year-old founding partner of

New Zealand to Get into the Space Junk Business

New Zealand to Get into the Space Junk Business

New Zealand is being drawn into the effort to tackle the space junk problem, Peter Griffin writes for Noted. Menlo Park, California-based space mapping start-up LeoLabs has applied for resource consent to build a…

AI Expert Dr Mahsa Mohaghegh Lectures in US

AI Expert Dr Mahsa Mohaghegh Lectures in US

St. Bonaventure University’s cyber security programme recently hosted artificial intelligence expert and STEM advocate, New Zealander Dr Mahsa Mohaghegh as its Lenna Visiting Professor. Mohaghegh is a professor at Auckland University of Technology (AUT) with a…

Take A Taste Of NZ With You When You Leave From Auckland International Airport

Take A Taste Of NZ With You When You Leave From Auckland International Airport

New Zealand chocolate maker, Whittaker’s, has opened their first ever store. Located at Auckland International Airport, just beyond the Customs area, it’s the perfect convenience for any traveler in need of an authentic Kiwi…

Oamaru Farmer Grant McNaughton an Award Nominee

Oamaru Farmer Grant McNaughton an Award Nominee

Six young agriculture professionals from both sides of the Tasman – including managing director of McNaughton Farms in Oamaru, Grant McNaughton, 34 – are in the running for the prestigious Zanda McDonald Award. Now in its…

Why NZ Is an Attractive Destination For Scientists

Why NZ Is an Attractive Destination For Scientists

Our country’s fertile research landscape, combined with a sustained funding drive, makes it a rewarding place to work, according to freelance journalist James Mitchell Crow writing for science journal, Nature. At high tide, the Cook…

Young Leader Chloe Fox Takes Organic Farm’s Reins

Young Leader Chloe Fox Takes Organic Farm’s Reins

New Zealander Chloe Fox, 31, can’t believe her luck. One minute she is living her life’s ambition, working in “the best job ever” growing fresh, healthy crops for an organic vegetable producer. Seemingly the…

Brad Brenneman Making Kyrgyzstan Coffee Connections

Brad Brenneman Making Kyrgyzstan Coffee Connections

New Zealander Brad Brenneman is often credited with kickstarting the coffee revolution in Kyrgyzstan. He opened the first Sierra Coffee shop next to the Russian Embassy in 2012, two years after another revolution that…

New Exec Role for Arts Leader Shelagh Magadza

New Exec Role for Arts Leader Shelagh Magadza

New Zealand-born Shelagh Magadza has been appointed the new executive director of the Chamber of Arts and Culture Western Australia and will take up the role from 23 October. Magadza, who was raised in Zimbabwe,…

Starbucks No Match for NZ’s Domestic Coffee Culture

Starbucks No Match for NZ’s Domestic Coffee Culture

Starbucks’ partner of 20 years in New Zealand is hanging up its apron. Restaurant Brands New Zealand Ltd. is letting its licensing deal expire in October to focus on its core fast food operations…

Kiwi Leadership Network USA Launch & Leadership Speaker Evening

Kiwi Leadership Network USA Launch & Leadership Speaker Evening

Save the date for the Kiwi Leadership Network USA’s official launch event on November 10, 2018 at 6pm at the Official New Zealand Residence in Los Angeles. Former NZ Tennis…

Air New Zealand Australasia’s Leading Airline

Air New Zealand Australasia’s Leading Airline

Air New Zealand has been named the Leading Airline in Australasia for the 10th consecutive year at the 25th annual World Travel Awards for the Asia and Australia regions. Sophie…

NZ Awards First-Ever Medical Cannabis Growing License

NZ Awards First-Ever Medical Cannabis Growing License

With the rise to power of a progressive government coalition of Greens and the Labour Party, cannabis policy is beginning to change in New Zealand, Adam Drury writes for the New York-based monthly magazine,…

The Healing Powers of Manuka Honey

The Healing Powers of Manuka Honey

Freelance writer Chaney Kwak took his cancer-survivor mother on a road trip through New Zealand in search of the magical healing powers of manuka honey. He writes about his experience in an article for…

NASDAQ Milestone for Carl Sanders-Edwards

NASDAQ Milestone for Carl Sanders-Edwards

Carl Sanders-Edwards, founder of the New Zealand leadership development platform Adeption, has celebrated his graduation from NASDAQ Milestone Makers. Sanders-Edward’s photo and the Adeption logo were displayed on Times Square at the same time. Sanders-Edwards…

Akerei Maresala-Thomson’s App Changing Lives

Akerei Maresala-Thomson’s App Changing Lives

An app designed by New Zealand-based former gang member turned policeman Akerei Maresala-Thomson, to help migrating Pacific families adjust to their new lives, is now being used by thousands. White Ribbon ambassador and social entrepreneur…

Innovative Blister Protection Company Names CEO

Innovative Blister Protection Company Names CEO

“Walk On, the blister protection company known for its luxuriously soft Hyperfine™ merino wool product, has appointed Dr. Mark Davey as its first CEO.” The company, founded by former Milford Track…

Koru’s Rachel Carrell an Employer with Heart

Koru’s Rachel Carrell an Employer with Heart

Fewer young people are working part-time in the UK. But Emma Pettit, 21, is animated on the topic of her summer job, looking after a 10-year-old, doing “fun things”. Childcare, and a stint at…

Keeping Manuka Honey Real

Keeping Manuka Honey Real

In the hills of New Zealand, they call it liquid gold – a honey so prized that it can fetch up to £100 a jar in Britain. Made from the nectar of bees that…

Scientist Harjinder Singh Wins Illustrious US Award

Scientist Harjinder Singh Wins Illustrious US Award

After 30 years of research in the dairy industry, a distinguished service award was well deserved for Massey University professor and food scientist Harjinder​ Singh, 60, who last month became the first New Zealander…

In Space, No-One Can Hear You File Legal Suit

In Space, No-One Can Hear You File Legal Suit

Kiwi lawyer Dr Maria Pozza is one of a handful of specialists operating in the arcane world of legal outer space. Sam Lock reports for The Daily Mail. Dr Pozza tells…

NY Times Honours Kiwi 37 Years After Her Death

NY Times Honours Kiwi 37 Years After Her Death

One of New Zealand’s foremost scientists, astronomer Beatrice Tinsley, has been honoured with a posthumous obituary in the New York Times 37 years after her death. The Times, which is running a series of stories…

Piemaker Jamie Scott Hits the Canadian Market

Piemaker Jamie Scott Hits the Canadian Market

Jamie Scott was working as a printer in Edmonton, Canada, when his hunger for a classic Kiwi pie spurred him to start his own business, South Island Pie Co. Sue…

Top Seedz Founder Rebecca Brady Wins US Grant

Top Seedz Founder Rebecca Brady Wins US Grant

Food-focused operations, including New Zealand-born Rebecca Brady’s Top Seedz cracker company, made up nearly half of the grant recipients awarded by Ignite Buffalo judges in July. Ignite Buffalo is a mentorship,…

KIWI Act Signed by U.S. President

KIWI Act Signed by U.S. President

A bill has been signed by U.S. President Donald Trump that is intended to make it easier for New Zealanders and Americans to trade with and invest with each other. President Trump is pictured…

All Aboard James Hargreaves’ Hong Kong Port Tour

All Aboard James Hargreaves’ Hong Kong Port Tour

There’s no question the shipping industry has played a vital role in shaping Hong Kong. But despite having one of the busiest ports in the world, most of us know little about its inner…

Mark D’Arcy Named Facebook VP Global Business Marketing & Chief Creative Officer

Mark D’Arcy Named Facebook VP Global Business Marketing & Chief Creative Officer

Kiwi-born “Mark D’Arcy has been promoted to VP of global business marketing and chief creative officer, a role that oversees Facebook’s team of creative strategists and its more traditional marketing function,” writes Lauren Johnson…

Inside Melanie Brown’s Pop Brixton Wine Cellar

Inside Melanie Brown’s Pop Brixton Wine Cellar

The New Zealand Cellar wine bar and wine shop is no cellar. It is very much above ground in Pop Brixton, a colourful site almost under the local railway line in south London. New…

Allbirds’ Co-Founder Tim Brown Speaks Simplicity

Allbirds’ Co-Founder Tim Brown Speaks Simplicity

New Zealander and former pro soccer player Tim Brown hung up his cleats in 2010 after going to the World Cup. His next move surprised everyone: He set out to make simple shoes that…

Japan-First for Lawyer Catherine O’Connell

Japan-First for Lawyer Catherine O’Connell

After 15 years in Japan, New Zealander Catherine O’Connell decided to found and launch her New Law business model in Japan. It was a challenging prospect for any foreign lawyer, let alone a woman…

MediCann Joins Forces With Dispensing Company

MediCann Joins Forces With Dispensing Company

Shares in Australian company Jayex Healthcare Limited have more than doubled after the medical software and devices company announced a deal with private New Zealand medical cannabis startup, MediCann. The deal gives MediCann the exclusive…

ANZ Introduces Digital Human Assistant

ANZ Introduces Digital Human Assistant

“If you are an ANZ Bank customer, chances are that your queries will be answered by ‘Jamie,’ the latest ‘Customer Services Officer’” and the bank’s new Digital Assistant, writes Venkat Raman in an article…

First 3D Colour X-Ray Of A Human Using CERN Technology

First 3D Colour X-Ray Of A Human Using CERN Technology

“A New-Zealand company has scanned a human body using a colour medical scanner based on Medipix3 technology developed at CERN. Father and son scientists Professors Phil and Anthony Butler from Canterbury and Otago Universities…

Air New Zealand Partners With Jetblue

Air New Zealand Partners With Jetblue

“Air New Zealand and JetBlue venture capital subsidiary JetBlue Technology Ventures have joined forces to help foster emerging technologies in the travel industry.” The two companies “are launching the International Innovation Partnership to seek…

World’s Largest Group Fitness Provider Turns 50

World’s Largest Group Fitness Provider Turns 50

“Marking half a century in the fitness industry this year, the family behind Les Mills, the world’s largest group fitness provider, have shared their remarkable story of struggle, success and striving for a fitter…

Rocket Lab to Open Second Launch Pad

Rocket Lab to Open Second Launch Pad

Silicon Valley-funded space launch company Rocket Lab is planning “to open a second launch site in the United States to complement its remote New Zealand pad.”  Charlotte Greenfield reports for

Ethique’s Brianne West Challenges Beauty Industry

Ethique’s Brianne West Challenges Beauty Industry

Self-taught green entrepreneur New Zealander Brianne West launched the zero-waste personal care brand Ethique to challenge the clean beauty industry to live up to its name. The company wants to stop millions of plastic…

Bioethicist Josephine Johnston on Egg-Freezing

Bioethicist Josephine Johnston on Egg-Freezing

Australia’s first dedicated egg-freezing clinic opened late last year, promoting the procedure as an insurance policy against infertility. But does it represent hope, hype or heartbreak? Some call the egg freezing drive a feminist…

Reform Studio’s Yvette McGaffin on Her Lifestyle

Reform Studio’s Yvette McGaffin on Her Lifestyle

New Zealander Yvette McGaffin, 32, runs Reform Studios in Belfast and Edinburgh. McGaffin talks to the Belfast Telegraph about her lifestyle choices. McGaffin says she trains at the boutique gym every day. “Ideally in one of…

Tiny Houses A Big Trend In New Zealand

Tiny Houses A Big Trend In New Zealand

Tiny houses or “just building what you need” has become a big trend in New Zealand and Australia. Lloyd Alter spoke to Kulja Coulston, editor of Sanctuary Magazine which profiled several tiny houses recently….

Sir John Hood Join Blackstone’s Board of Directors

Sir John Hood Join Blackstone’s Board of Directors

New Zealand businessman Sir John Hood has joined Blackstone’s board of directors on May 14, 2018. Blackstone President and COO Jon Gray said Blackstone was looking forward to working closely with Hood and that…

Colorado’s Mountain Pie Co Expand Business

Colorado’s Mountain Pie Co Expand Business

New Zealander Matt Campbell and his wife Tara, owners of Mountain Pie Co, have vastly expanded their Colorado Springs-based meat pie production. “I bought a new pie production machine from Australia, which allows me make…

NZ DNA Software Helps Conviction in US Court Case

NZ DNA Software Helps Conviction in US Court Case

New Zealand DNA testing software known as ‘STRmix’ “has helped United States prosecutors secure a murder conviction in a Brooklyn courtroom.” Radio New Zealand reports. STRmix untangles complex mixtures of DNA…

NZ Radio Station That Wants Listeners to Switch Off

NZ Radio Station That Wants Listeners to Switch Off

“John Watson is the first to admit that his DJ skills put people to sleep. Luckily for him, that is the point,” writes Charles Anderson in an article for The…