Who we are
Our mission is to facilitate collaboration, inspire innovation, and drive impactful research that contributes to a sustainable, equitable and energy positive future for Aotearoa | New Zealand and the world.
As with many nations in the world, New Zealand aims to achieve a net-zero carbon energy economy by 2050. Meeting this target is a significant challenge. It will require large efforts in R&D from many disciplines, including engineering, science, business and economics, and architecture and planning, to name just a few. The combined R&D contributions must generate a synergistic and cohesive outcome, which takes advantage of interdisciplinary knowledge spillovers and complementarities. Meeting the target also requires significant industrial, governmental, and societal engagement and changes.
By leveraging the collective knowledge and innovative capabilities of our researchers, we aim to develop evidence-based research and cutting-edge solutions that advance energy efficiency, affordability, security and sustainability, toward a 2050 net-zero carbon energy system.
The leadership team
Andy Philpott
Professor
Engineering Science and Biomedical Engineering
Alessandro premier
Senior Lecturer
Architecture and planning
Emilson Silva
Chair in Energy Economics
Nona Taute
Lecturer
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Geoffrey Waterhouse
Professor
Chemical Studies
Susana Negrete Urtasun
Research Operations
Manager
Associated centres
Circuit
CIRCUIT is a Research Centre in the Department of Chemical & Materials Engineering and a Research Hub within Ngā Ara Whetū | Centre for Climate, Biodiversity and Society at the University of Auckland.
Using a holistic approach, the Circular Innovations (CIRCUIT) Centre focuses on converting the current linear economy, with its waste surplus and resource limitations, into a sustainable circular economy.
Energy Centre
The Energy Centre is a multi-disciplinary research and education centre, founded in 2004. We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Energy Education Trust of New Zealand, which funds a wide array of energy projects and scholarships. The Energy Centre’s mission is to strive for excellence in energy research and education that promote the energy sector’s long-term efficiency, fairness, security, and sustainability in Aotearoa New Zealand, and offer solutions to challenges that the sector faces.
The Energy Centre’s research efforts focus on Electricity, which is our overarching research theme. The Energy Centre’s education activities include the Summer School in Energy Economics, the Seminar Series in Energy Economics, and the Energy Case Competition. Its main outreach activity is the Energy Matters series in which experts from academia, industry and government discuss important energy-related issues.”
Future Cities Research Centre
The Future Cities Research Centre brings together researchers from across the Faculty of Creative Arts and Industries and the University of Auckland to pursue, develop and disseminate transdisciplinary research focussing on climate change and social, cultural and spatial urban well-being.
The Centre aims at empowering communities and shaping the future of urban environments through transformative research, education and collaboration.
Green Energy Engineering Centre
The Green Energy Engineering Centre (GEEC) is a University of Auckland Engineering Faculty Centre. The Centre’s purpose is to carry out research which will help New Zealand reach a zero-carbon economy through increased investment in renewable energy.
Transition to green energy is a complex policy question that will require a blend of technologies and market instruments. This will require a transdisciplinary approach, not only to find the appropriate synthesis of technologies, but to ensure that these are environmentally and socially acceptable. The GEEC will be a source of expertise in technologies for these processes and their optimal deployment and, will form a core of technical expertise for this transdisciplinary effort.
I2C2
The Industrial Information and Control Centre (I²C²) is a Research Centre in the Department of Chemical & Materials Engineering at The University of Auckland. The Centre has become the premier national headquarters for industrial information and control in advanced process simulation and control.
It’s objective is to provide a national focal point for research, postgraduate study, graduate training, continuing education and industry consultation in the field of industrial processes.
Ngā Ara Whetū
Named for the journeys of our collective ancestors to the shores of Aotearoa, New Zealand, Ngā Ara Whetū (“Star Paths”), responds to challenges of attaining sustainable futures and collective wellbeing through enabling and enhancing collaborative research and training.
Ngā Ara Whetū is networked with local and global communities of purpose, practice and understanding, who share aspirations for accelerating actions that promote lasting protection of the planet, its natural resources, and peaceful, just and inclusive societies.