Jeff Tallon
Dr Jeffery Tallon, of Lower Hutt, received the Insignia of a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to science. He is notable for his research into high temperature superconductivity, for which he won the Royal Society of New Zealand's Rutherford Medal in 2002. He has discovered many novel high temperature superconductors (HTS), including one that works at minus 140 degrees Celsius. This means electricity can travel without friction at higher temperatures compared with previous superconductors that worked at extremely low temperatures which were expensive to operate. The new HTS means an electrical current can circulate indefinitely over a period of time, which means electric motors and power cables can be smaller and consequently produce power with greater efficiency and at a lower cost. In addition, because HTS can be used to make magnetic images of the body's soft tissues, it can speed up the diagnosis of tumours and ease non-invasive surgery.