On Monday, KiwisInSTEM held its soft launch event at the Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry at Cambridge University. The group, jointly founded by Dr Logan Baber and the NZUK Link Foundation, is a new community for UK-based New Zealanders working across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
At the event, Dr Baber, a photonics specialist and Auckland PhD who works for Cambridge Consultants, gave an engaging speech, offering a broad overview of the group’s goals and future plans. The soft launch provided a first chance for KiwisInSTEM to present itself to an engaged and interested audience and to gather feedback on how the group can best serve its community. Sally Martin, the NZUK Link Foundation Chair, also spoke at the event, emphasising how the group fits in with an existing Link focus on technology. Dr Baber has also recently been appointed as the Advisor on STEM to the NZUK Link Foundation, an important component of his role being to facilitate cooperation over the management of the group. Both speakers also highlighted the commitment of British and New Zealand governments to international collaboration within STEM, signalled by their signing of the Research, Science and Innovation Arrangement in 2022, which KiwisInStem can build upon.
The soft launch was followed by an informal trip to the pub for those interested, where lively discussions over how to tailor the group’s objectives and structure to make it work best for the community continued. Feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and there was keen interest in a potential follow-up event in London.
Dr Baber reflected on the day, writing, ‘A beautiful day for a successful soft launch of KiwisInSTEM in Cambridge! We presented our goals for the community and how we plan to achieve them. We received great feedback from the attendees, and followed up with a lovely drink down at a local pub. Thanks again to the Cambridge University Australia New Zealand Society (CUANZS) for helping to support the event.’
The NZUK Link Foundation is delighted to be supporting KiwisInSTEM. The group represents an exciting opportunity to build and strengthen cross-cultural relationships within sectors which are of significant priority and importance to both countries. You can read more about KiwisInSTEM on their website, and keep updated on their activities by following the Link on LinkedIn or X, or signing up to KiwisInSTEM’s mailing list.