Our project team has had the support of two fantastic student interns over the summer. Their involvement was co-funded by two R&D Experience Grants, which fund innovative businesses to employ tertiary-level students as full-time interns over their summer break, and help to prepare them for their own innovative careers.
Madison King is a mechanical engineering student at the University of Canterbury, starting her fourth and final year of study in 2026. To support our project, Madi worked with the mechanical, bioprocessing and chemical engineers in our team to develop a preliminary design for the pilot plant. She contributed to the plant layout, and has developed a 3D CAD concept model of the facility that will assist with spatial planning and estimating build costs.
Isobel Younger completed a conjoint degree in Law and Biomedical Science in 2025 from Victoria University of Wellington, specialising in biotechnology, molecular pathology, and the regulation of emerging science. For her summer internship, Issie has been exploring how intellectual property strategy, sustainable biotechnology, regulation, and indigenous knowledge interact for our project. She has been developing a clear IP position for the biofeedstocks project and a robust IP management process that can help future geothermal innovation by our team. Upflow is keeping Issie for another year to help continue this mahi.
Thank you to both our stellar interns and to Callaghan Innovation/MBIE for the funding support.
