Easy tiger
Name: Paul Terence Callaghan
Age: 64
Occupation: Physicist
Place I call home: Wellington
My passion is: Science and innovation
My hero is: Ernest Rutherford
If reincarnated I’d be: A composer
What do New Zealanders need to know about the new tiger economy? That we have the potential to be much more prosperous than we currently are, if only we chose to work in higher productivity occupations based on innovative exporting.
Is New Zealand’s decline in prosperity really a result of our own choosing? Why?
Because we have failed to see beyond agriculture and tourism as sources of external revenue for the country, and because we have encouraged our young people to see their best opportunities overseas. We lack belief in our own capacity and we do not sufficiently value and encourage entrepreneurship.
Do we have the capacity to move ahead rapidly? How?
First, ensure that we address the educational failure of many of our young people at school by seriously investing in motivational teaching. We are obsessed with curricula and assessment instead of with improving teaching quality. Second, by expressing a new vision of New Zealand as a base for smart innovative export-focussed entrepreneurialism, where a quality lifestyle is combined with excellent educational and R&D capability. We need to instil in our young an awareness of our remarkable successes and our capacity to do a whole lot more.
Where do you think Wellington’s prosperity lies?
Wellington is an excellent city to live in. We must expand economic activity beyond the government sector into the creative sector. Film is a great success. High tech companies are starting to make an impact. We need to grow that capacity.
What is the most exciting scientific innovation to come out Wellington in recent times?
The Wellington company Magritek, of which I am a founder. It is based on highly sophisticated physics, electronics and software, and it is selling some of the highest technology products New Zealand has ever produced, and doing so with great success.
What excites you about science in New Zealand?
We are good at it, and in per capita terms, better than most countries on the planet. It’s amazing but most New Zealanders are completely unaware of that fact, and most of our kids still think they need to go overseas to do great science.
What’s going on in the Wellington science community at the moment?
A lot. Where do I start? We know how valuable the GNS scientists have been in the recent earthquakes. We have very strong Crown Research Institutes with NIWA, IRL and ESR. The Malaghan Institute for Medical research is doing fabulous work in cancer research and in asthma research. And the MacDiarmid Institute is leading the way in physical sciences research. The MacDiarmid Institute has a vibrant group of young researchers who are active not only in their labs, but who are involved in science communication activities and in building science-business awareness.
What are you working on?
I have just finished a book called Translational Dynamics and Magnetic Resonance and Oxford University Press has published it. I am currently at Cambridge University trying to understand how science and innovation can drive GDP growth in advanced economies.
Finally, do you know the words to Tom Lehrer’s song The Elements?
I love Tom Lehrer. I do know many of the words to The Elements, but not as well as Margaret Mahy, who I once heard sing it all the way through from memory.
Inaugural Chancellor’s Lecture, Wellington Town Hall, 6pm, September 14










Have Your Say
0 Comments
No comments.