2011 Realise the Dream Awards Ceremony

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E nga mana, e nga reo, e nga iwi katoa huri noa o Aotearoa, e huihui nei, tēnei aku mihi māhana ki a koutou.  Kia ora tātou katoa.  Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen from across New Zealand warm greetings to you all.

I specifically acknowledge: Dr Di McCarthy, Chief Executive of Te Aparangi—the Royal Society of New Zealand, tēnā koe; Your Excellency David Huebner, Ambassador of the United States to New Zealand, tēnā koe; Mr Steve Thomson, representing the British High Commission, tēnā koe; Neil Walter and Dr Andrew Matthews, Chair and Commissioner of Te Kōmihana Matua o Aotearoa mō UNESCO—the New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO, tēnā korua; and Albert Brantley, Chief Executive of Genesis Energy and Dr Eric Hillerton, Chief Scientist and General Manager of DairyNZ, tēnā korua.

It is a great pleasure for Janine and me to welcome you all to Government House for the 2011 Realise the Dream—National School Science and Technology Awards.

It is especially satisfying, as Patron, to have the Royal Society of New Zealand and Realise the Dream back at Government House.  The Realise the Dream awards were last held here in 2007, and much has changed since then.  The House has literally been pulled apart and put back together again.  It has been restored, refurbished, refreshed and strengthened. 

In the context of tonight’s gathering, beneath the surface of this century-old historic house beats a new and modern heart.  It now has services, technologies and control systems that may have only been dreamed of when construction began in 1908.  At the conclusion of tonight’s ceremony, I invite you look around the House and enjoy its history, art and artefacts.

Just as this is but another event on the journey in the life of this House, tonight marks a milestone in the journey for the 2011 Realise the Dream finalists and the start of another leg of their journey. 

At this point, I acknowledge the finalists in the Realise the Dream, the young men and women who we are celebrating tonight.  It seems to me that the past week has been both an opportunity to celebrate your achievements, as well as an opportunity to connect with some of New Zealand’s leading researchers and scientists.

In a literal sense, tonight is the culmination of a journey that began in Auckland a week ago.  The young people we are celebrating tonight have toured the University of Auckland’s Liggin’s Institute and Leigh Marine Research Centre.  They’ve visited DairyNZ in Hamilton, Genesis Energy’s facilities at Taupō, Massey University in Palmerston North and NIWA where the finalists met researchers before arriving here tonight.

Tonight is also the culmination of personal and scientific journeys of discovery that saw you selected as a Realise the Dream finalist.  The ticket for your journey was the discovery you made that shed new light on currently held views, and or created new knowledge that widens our understanding of the world.

The Realise the Dream Awards are national awards for the young researchers of tomorrow.  No-one knows with certainty what tomorrow holds.  However, reading about your projects, from my perspective, you look like pretty good researchers today!  As we will soon hear, all of you have carried out a remarkable amount of research.  The diversity of projects and your ingenuity is outstanding.  That some of your results are being investigated further by commercial partners or government agencies for potential real life application is evidence of the worth of your work. 

I am sure you will have made personal discoveries about what it takes to succeed in science and in life too.  Some might say that you are geniuses.  Without doubt you are intelligent, and yet there are lots of smart people in our world and not all of them have achieved in the way that you have.  The inventor Thomas Edison had the right perspective on all of that when he quipped “Genius is one per cent inspiration, ninety-nine per cent perspiration.” 

In bringing your projects to fruition you’ve proved that intelligence only gets you so far in life.  What sets you apart is your dedication and hard work.  Genius is less about inspired flashes of insight, and more about hard work and perseverance.  I’m sure there would have been moments of intense frustration when initial plans or theories didn’t work as you had expected and had to be modified or re-worked.  Your being here tonight, bears testament to your abilities to overcome hurdles, to persevere and to succeed in a research project – well done.

At this point I would like to acknowledge some others who have also demonstrated tremendous resolve – the parents, schools and mentors of the finalists.  You, and especially you parents, must be very proud of your children.  So on behalf of your parents, and as a parent who had a daughter succeed in the CREST awards, I hope that you finalists see tonight as part of a longer journey.  The next leg and challenge is to use your success in making it to the finals of these awards as a springboard to greater achievements.  Whether your journey is in science, technology, business or public service you can follow in the footsteps of other great New Zealanders - researchers, scientists and innovators who have been world leaders.  Their discoveries and theories have changed our understanding of everything from the evolution of galaxies  and black holes,  to the structure of atoms .  New Zealanders have helped us to comprehend the structure of DNA,  plastics that conduct electricity  and made advances in nuclear magnetic resonance.   Their research has helped us understand the potential of humankind and created industries, businesses and products that have transformed our lives.

In conclusion, I want to congratulate you 2011 Realise the Dream finalists.  I congratulate you on your achievements, your hard work, your tenacity and the commitment to making the future better.  Only one of you will win the supreme.  You are, however, all inspirational young people and I wish you all the best in your future lives and careers.  So as you can see, tonight is really the start of a journey - a life-long journey to seek knowledge.  The author Robert Louis Stevenson put it neatly when he said, “To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive”. 

Kia ora huihui tātou katoa.