Realise the Dream Awards

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Rau rangatira mā, e kui mā, e koro mā, e hine mā, e tama mā, e huihui nei, tēnei aku mihi māhana ki a koutou.  Nau mai, haere mai rā ki Te Whare Kawana o Te Whanganui-a-Tara. 

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, young women and men, warm greetings to you all, and welcome to Government House Wellington.

I specifically acknowledge: Your Excellency David Huebner, Ambassador of the United States and Your Excellency Vicki Treadell, High Commissioner of the United Kingdom ; Phillippa Gardiner, Acting Chief Executive of the Royal Society of New Zealand; Dr Eric Hillerton, Chief Scientist of Dairy NZ; Dr Andrew Cleland, Chief Executive of the Institution of Professional Engineers; Jenny Burke, Community Investment Manager from Genesis Energy; and Commodore Dean McDougall, Deputy Chief of Navy representing the Chief of Navy - tēnā koutou katoa.

It’s a great pleasure for Janine and me to welcome you all to Government House today for the 2013 Realise the Dream National School Science and Technology Awards.  As Patron of the Royal Society of New Zealand, I’m delighted to support these awards because they highlight three things that I think are important about creating a better New Zealand – young people, excellence and enterprise.

This ceremony sits within a week of events that have underscored the contribution our rangatahi are making to our nation.  They are events that have reinforced to me that young people are not a problem that needs to be solved; they are the solution to our problems!

Last Saturday, we hosted the Queen’s Award for the Boys’ and Girls’ Brigades, which recognised young people who have demonstrated leadership and service through demanding activities and voluntary community service.  On Wednesday night I helped to present national awards in the Young Enterprise Scheme Awards, recognising young men and women who had created innovative businesses.  And tomorrow we will host the Challenge for Change graduation ceremony, to reward young people with a host of difficulties, who have made positive changes in their lives with the help of mentors.

Today’s ceremony honours another unique group of young people – our best and brightest in science and technology.  This is the third time I’ve hosted these awards, and every year as these awards approach, I think: “surely they can’t top the projects of last year’s finalists.”  And every year, I’m proven wrong, and I am amazed to see the variety of projects and the sheer ingenuity of the young people. 

This year the finalists cover disciplines as diverse as electronics, robotics, and mechanical and software engineering to ecology, environmental chemistry, human physiology and nutrition.  While they’re all diverse, several characteristics link them.  All of these projects began when one of the budding young researchers had, what I refer to as, a “light bulb” moment.  Sometimes they are moments of inspiration, sometimes it’s because after a whole lot of watching, thinking and experimenting the answer unfolds!

All of those moments, however, were centred on that most fundamental of questions – why?  Since the beginning of time, this burning question, applied in many different settings, has driven the human thirst to understand the world around us and create new knowledge.

And while many people have asked this question, and some have set out to answer it, only a handful find the answers they’re seeking.  And in this, New Zealanders have been world leaders.  It has included finding answers to the mysteries of the atom,  DNA,  the formation of galaxies  and black holes,  to leading human exploration of the solar system , advances in cardiac  and plastic surgery,  in understanding human evolution  and creating plastics that conduct electricity.   The list of these outstanding New Zealand men and women goes on and on.

The young people here today also asked that fundamental question – why - and found answers.  I expect that they’ve not always been the answers they anticipated.  As the inventor Thomas Edison once said:  “We haven’t failed.  We now know a thousand things that won’t work, so we’re that much closer to find what will.”

This year’s finalists in the Realise the Dream Awards have achieved not because they are talented, educated and intelligent; that almost goes without saying.  These young people have succeeded because they combined their intellect, talent and education with persistence and an unfailing determination to be the best they can be.

At the Young Enterprise Awards, I quoted the words of one of New Zealand’s great scientists, the late Sir Paul Callaghan.  Sir Paul had a stunning scientific career, during which he received numerous accolades and awards.  In the last interview he gave before he died, he said that the establishment of Magritek, a company that makes magnetic resonance devices for the food and petroleum industries, was his greatest achievement.  I want to quote Sir Paul here as well because his remarks pinpoint what is important for success.  He said:

“In that company, there's just a buzz. These wonderful young people just loving what they're doing. Of the 23 staff I think we've only had two leave in seven years. There are some geniuses in that company. I'm just one of the ones that started it. It's the sheer quality of the people. And you've got to strive for excellence. If you're not the best at what you're doing, don't bother.”

In conclusion, I want to congratulate the Royal Society of New Zealand for its ongoing support for this initiative, for helping our young people strive for quality, for excellence and for being the best.  And I want to thank all of the organisations and people who have supported the programme, from the backers of the regional science fairs, to those who have supported the finalists’ study tour that began in Auckland a week ago, and those providing the prizes tonight.

Most of all, however, I want to congratulate the young people here tonight.  While only one can win the supreme award, I congratulate you all for your ingenuity, for your hard work, for your commitment to excellence, and for being the best you can be.  That’s why you are here tonight. 

And as I told the Young Enterprise Award winners, the recognition and acknowledgement you have received should not be an end in itself.  It should just be a stepping stone.  Wherever your life and career may take you, always remember the support you have been given here.  Encourage those who follow you, and offer to help and support them so they too can realise their dreams.  As the writer and diplomat Eleanor Roosevelt once said: “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

Kia ora, kia kaha, kia manawanui, huihui tātou katoa – be well, be strong, be courageous.