NEC New Zealand Ltd, a global technology manufacturer, is to collaborate with the New Zealand ICT Innovation Institute (NZi3), based at the University of Canterbury.
The two organisations will focus on energy and ecology solutions to help rebuild Christchurch after the earthquakes, as well as human interaction solutions such as biometrics and robotics.
The collaboration, announced on 19 October, aims to bring together top researchers and research students from the University of Canterbury with NEX experts to co-develop innovative technologies and solutions which can be brought to market.
As part of the collaboration, NEC New Zealand will provide sponsorship of NZ$90,000 over three years, in addition to equipment and other in-kind support worth more than NZ$30,000 in the same period.
Sponsorship includes the funding of two full-time postgraduate research students whose thesis research will be guided and supervised by NEC and based at NZi3.