Innovation Profile - Dr Desi Ramoo (New Zealand)

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Image: Dr Desi Ramoo, Research Technology and Innovation Practice Lead, Ministry for Primary Industries, New Zealand

Article written by Dr Desi Ramoo

It was through visiting science museums on a year-long motorcycle tour of North America in 1992 that Desi caught the science bug. He embarked on an adventure in theoretical physics, completing a PhD funded by British Telecommunications UK and continuing his research in the area of highly efficient microcavity semiconductors lasers.

Desi immigrated to New Zealand with his wife and two sons from the UK in 2008 to work for the Building Research Association of New Zealand. He joined the organisation as a computational fluid dynamics physicist. He later worked with the MacDiarmid Institute as its Innovation Agent developing nationwide networks and connecting New Zealand’s researchers with commercialisation opportunities.

Desi has an incredibly diverse range of experience, having completed several research roles in the UK and New Zealand. He has mentored PhD students in commercialisation and has set up and run businesses. Recruited by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) in 2016, Desi designed, set up and now leads the Research Technology and Innovation (RTI) Practice.

RTI is an alternative way of working at MPI, which identifies ideas, 76 to date, with the potential to solve biosecurity problems. Desi presents MPI’s Senior Leaders with innovative ideas every six weeks, giving them the chance to sponsor those which strategically align and would add value if successful.

Desi connects with researchers, start-up companies and industry from a wide range of disciplines on initiatives to solve pressing biosecurity issues. This increases the number of participants investigating real-world biosecurity challenges, and links MPI with partners to help improve our management of the biosecurity system.
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