In June 2020 it was announced that Chemmat’s Professor Wei Gao had been awarded  The Vice-Chancellor’s Commercialisation Medal as part of the University of Auckland 2020 Research Excellence Awards.

From the UoA website:

Professor Wei Gao from Chemical and Materials Engineering has been a very active and vocal supporter of the value of industry engagement and the development of an Entrepreneurial University for many years. His name often appears in the top lists for industry-funded research, and he would hold the record for the number of ideas and teams entered into the Velocity Challenge since its inception in 2003. His spin-out company Cirrus Materials recently closed a Series A funding round and is working with some of the world’s leading global companies to transform coatings that reduce the use of harmful chemicals, change the capabilities of reusable materials and increase sustainability. Almost all of Professor Gao’s students find work either at his collaborative companies or start their own and almost all of Cirrus’s research and development staff are alumni of the University of Auckland. Read the full article.