The award celebrates individuals whose work has made an exceptional and lasting impact on New Zealand's research commercialisation ecosystem, and who have demonstrated a commitment to translating publicly funded research into outcomes that deliver economic and societal benefits for New Zealand.

For Gavin, the recognition reflects a career dedicated to helping science move beyond the laboratory and into the hands of those who can use it to create real-world value.

"It's a tremendous honour to receive this award, but commercialisation is always a team effort," Gavin says.

"I've been fortunate to work alongside talented scientists, entrepreneurs, investors and industry partners who all share a desire to see New Zealand research make a real difference."

Among many achievements, Gavin played an important role in establishing the Kiwifruit Breeding Centre, a joint venture with Zespri, and helped create opportunities for science-based innovations to reach markets around the world.

Beyond his direct commercialisation work, Gavin has been a tireless advocate for New Zealand's biotechnology sector. As Chair of NZBIO, he helped guide the organisation through a challenging period and supported its evolution into BioTechNZ.

The award was presented at the KiwiNet Research Commercialisation Awards in Auckland last night, where Bioeconomy Science Institute spin-out company Scentian Bio was also recognised, winning the PwC Breakthrough Project Award.

Scentian Bio is commercialising a world-first AI-powered "insect nose on a chip" technology that has the potential to transform food quality control, biosecurity, pest detection and human health diagnostics.

The company spun out of the Bioeconomy Science Institute in 2021, following a structured commercialisation programme that included seed funding, technology validation, intellectual property protection and strategic partnerships.

Since then, Scentian Bio has gone from strength to strength. In January 2026, the company closed an oversubscribed NZ$7 million pre-Series A funding round led by Icehouse Ventures and is now running pilot programmes with seven leading global food companies while scaling advanced manufacturing capability in Auckland.

The Bioeconomy Science Institute was also represented among the finalists in three other award categories.

Chief Scientist Dr Linda Johnson was a finalist in the BNZ Researcher Entrepreneur Award, the AR37 Endophyte team was a finalist in the Cytiva Commercialisation Impact Award, and Mick Riley from Forever Harvest was a finalist in the KCA Commercialisation Rising Star Award.

The strong showing reflects the depth of innovation, entrepreneurship and commercialisation expertise across the Bioeconomy Science Institute and its partners.