HIT Lab NZ Ltd appoints new CEO

From HIT Lab NZ

The company responsible for commercialising technologies developed at the Human Interface Technology Laboratory New Zealand (HIT Lab NZ) at the University of Canterbury has appointed Andrew Plimmer as its CEO. HIT Lab NZ Ltd is owned by the University of Canterbury, the Canterbury Development Corporation and the University of Washington in Seattle.

Mr Plimmer has been appointed to help accelerate HIT Lab NZ Ltd's commercial applications and partnerships and lead the development of spin-out companies and licencing deals. Economic development agency New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) is providing financial support to help HIT Lab NZ Ltd increase its level of commercialisation.

Mr Plimmer is currently CEO of BayCity Technologies Ltd. He has been responsible for transforming BayCity Technologies from a start-up family business into a commercial operation with three distinct businesses. One of these was BayCity New Zealand, a rural satellite broadband internet provider. Mr Plimmer has been responsible for restructuring and re-branding the company, which is now known as Farmside Ltd.

Mr Plimmer has a high profile in the technology sector in New Zealand and Australia. He is chairman of the Electronics South electronics industry cluster and sits on the board of the ICT Canterbury group. He takes up his new position on 1 October