MBIE Research Programmes Funding Success for DWC and QTA Investigators

*Scalable cryogenic memory technology for superconducting and quantum computing

Principal Investigator/s: Simon Granville and Ben Ruck

Associate Investigator from QTA and DWC Waltraut Wustmann
Duration: 5 years
Contract value (GST excl): $9,053,616.00

Applicant's Public Statement

In the future, high-performance computing, including superconducting and quantum computing, will be undertaken at very cold [‘cryogenic’] temperatures. Such computers will be very much faster than today’s supercomputers [like the difference between a Ferrari and an e-scooter] – but where the Ferrari computer will need only a tiny fraction of the energy to run as today’s supercomputers.High-performance computers are not yet a reality because cryogenic memory technology they require has not been developed. In this research programme,using our team’s expertise in a class of advanced materials known as rare-earth nitrides, we will build prototypes of the cryogenic memory arrays required for the high-performance computers of the future. Rare-earth nitrides have remarkable properties: unlike other materials, they have tuneable magnetic and electrical characteristics. As the effort to build high-performance computing systems gains momentum over the next decade, this technology will become more and more valuable. By the end of the research programme, we will establish a pilot manufacturing line for cryogenic memory, leading to prototype manufacture of memory arrays. We will integrate our arrays with cryogenic logic circuits supplied by our implementation partner in the US, giving us a way to enter the valuable US market. New Zealand technology companies, as well as Kiwi engineering and manufacturing firms, will be involved in our production line.They will be able to access international customers and take part in supplying export customers with the products we have jointly developed.  New, highly skilled, well-paid jobs will be created, and investment will flow into New Zealand companies in the global superconducting electronics business.

*A novel medical device for delivering therapies to the ear.

Principal Investigator/s: Peter Thorne

Associate Investigators DWC Cushla McGoverin, Frédérique Vanholsbeeck
Duration: 5 years
Contract value (GST excl): $8,296,275.00

Applicant's Public Statement

The cochlea of the inner ear is extremely small and completely encased in bone,making it one of the most difficult human organs to access for diagnosing and treating diseases that cause hearing loss. We aim to develop a medical device that can be inserted down the ear canal and through a small hole in the eardrum to assess the cochlea and quickly deliver drugs and other treatments. We have recently (i) invented a prototype device that uses ultrasound (very high frequency sound) to efficiently deliver drugs into the cochlea via the ear canal, (ii) produced pilot data using optical tools to investigate and assess the cochlea and its fluids; and (iii) established a world-leading programme using the sheep to study ear disease; and hearing loss. We will establish a New Zealand-based company to manufacture the device, creating a new industry for inner ear therapeutics, and added economic benefit to NZ through global investment and pharmaceutical company collaborations. We will build a local workforce to support new clinical research into inner ear therapeutics. About 880,000 people in Aotearoa, and 1.5 billion worldwide, experience hearing loss; many cannot access or afford hearing aids or cochlear implants. Māori are disproportionately impacted by hearing loss and less likely to access treatment. We therefore are working very closely with Māori to ensure acceptability and access to our device within this community. Poorly managed hearing loss has considerable impact on children and adults and costs NZ around$4.6 billion annually. Our programme will address many of these costs by transforming the treatment of hearing loss to enable rapid assessment and precision treatment that will be more broadly accessible and cost-effective than current treatments.

*Derisking Carbon Dioxide Removal at Megatonne Scale in Aotearoa

Principal Investigator/s: David Dempsey

Associate Investigator DWC Ludmila Adam
Duration: 5 years
Contract value (GST excl): $9,997,386.90

Applicant's Public Statement

Negative emissions from land-based Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) can help NZ meet its climate targets. Today, this mainly occurs by planting new exotic (pine)forests for carbon credits. However, land availability and declining social licence may limit future forestry removals.

Three other land-based removal technologies could replace carbon forestry, and NZ has some natural advantages:

1. Bioenergy carbon capture – combusting biomass instead     of fossil fuels (e.g., at dairy factories), capturing the CO2, and     dissolving it into underground water.
2. Enhanced rock weathering – crushing up volcanic rocks     with special properties, spreading them on pasture as fertiliser, with CO2     absorption happening due to the natural metereological weathering cycle.
3. Direct air capture – exposing air directly to certain     types of rocks or materials that absorb CO2.

To make a difference, we will need at least 1 million tonnes per year (a megatonne) of removals. This could generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues and co-benefits (e.g., green CO2, increased renewable power). However,the chemistry, costs, and compatibility of these new technologies are yet to be explored in a NZ context.

Our team of researchers comes from geological and environmental science, energy engineering, Mātauranga, legal policy, and economics. Our research takes a holistic view to derisking removals, including experiments in CO2-rockchemistry, engineering of safe underground storage, identifying synergies in the green economy that reduce life-cycle cost and waste, and designing, monitoring and verification policy that gives stakeholders confidence in removals.

To implement the research, we will work with Māori enterprises and primary sector stakeholders to develop place-based case studies that map the benefits and challenges of future removals projects.

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