2017

Over the course of his career, Phil has taken on more than 80 international consultancies, working with farmers and foragers in such countries as Argentina, Iran, Nepal, Uruguay, Vietnam and China. For over three decades he has worked to develop forage seed production, grassland farming systems, pastoral agronomy and integrated crop livestock. 

Since the early 1980s, Phil has worked to bring Kiwi inspirited grassland farming systems and techniques to western China, for over 30 years later, Phil’s work has included research and development projects regarding improved soil fertility, through plant selection, pasture establishment and management, grassland and livestock production to boost the region’s economic performance. He has been responsible for the training of a number of technical staff, enhancing the research capacity, and accelerating the grassland agriculture production in China. 

Phil has been awarded the Chinese Government’s Friendship Medal – the highest honour awarded to foreigners in China and the International Science and Technology Cooperation Award – China’s highest accolade for foreign scientists. In New Zealand Phil was awarded the NZ Institute of Agriculture and Horticulture Technology Transfer Award for his extensive contributions to training and research in seed growth, Researcher of the Year by the Foundation for Arable Research, for his work in ‘on-farm research and extension’, and the AgResearch’s Technology Prize.

Watch Dr Phil Rolston accept his award here.

Lady Fran is a multi-award winning screenwriter, responsible for writing some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters including The Lord of the Rings, King Kong, The Lovely Bones and The Hobbit trilogy. She’s also widely known for her aversion to the spotlight, with The New York Times having referred to her as “one of Hollywood’s biggest living mysteries”.

Lady Fran began her career as a television screenwriter, her storytelling ability and the way she crafts her characters, has been instrumental in helping to pave her career. She moved on to film scripting for Meet the Feebles (1989) and Braindead (1992) before her big break came in 1994 when her script for Heavenly Creatures was awarded Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards, which she again shared with Sir Peter Jackson.

Lady Fran co-wrote the screenplays for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy – another defining moment in her career. Considered one of the biggest and most ambitious projects ever, all signs were pointing to horrendous box office losses, but the films went on to become a mammoth critical and commercial success. Lady Fran’s work on the trilogy was nominated for 49 awards in total – receiving 29 wins across the BAFTAs, the Golden Globes, the Grammy Awards, and the Writers Guild of America. Her work on The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King alone, took home three Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Writing and Best Music.

Other notable works include The Hobbit trilogy (2012-2014), The Lovely Bones (2009), King Kong (2005) and The Frighteners (1996).

In 2002, she was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit. A number of New Zealand universities including Massey University and Victoria University awarded Lady Fran with honorary degrees.

Ian Wright has never been a victim of the ‘tall poppy syndrome.’ He pursued a degree in electrical engineering, and before he’d even graduated, was snapped up by US company and made a home for himself in Silicon Valley. He became Senior Director EngNet and then a Director at Cisco Systems before taking up the role of CTO at Altamar Networks. 

Ian capitalized on his knowledge of cars, helping to found the high-performance electric car company, Tesla Motors – becoming its first employee, and Vice President of Vehicle Development. He broke away in 2004 and created the fastest street legal electric car in the world. 

Since then, Ian founded Wrightspeed Inc to create the world’s most efficient range-extended electric vehicle powertrains, as part of his quest to solve Equivalent Variation (EV) economics. 

Over the past two decades, Ian has emerged as one of the leading minds of the electric transportation era. In 2015, he won the Silicon Valley Innovation & Entrepreneurship Forum Award and the Bronze Power Generation Edison Award for his work, and in 2016, he was also acknowledged as a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum.

Watch Ian Wright accept his award here.