Innovation is deeply enmeshed in everything we do at Wyma. We’re always investigating how to make our equipment better, to deliver greater performance, efficiency and durability. Achieving these goals requires a constant supply of new ideas and outside-the-box thinking.

Fortunately, the location of our home base in Christchurch, New Zealand, gives us access to a fantastic resource – the student cohort at the University of Canterbury’s College of Engineering. Having started life as the first engineering school in New Zealand, the College remains one of the country’s most respected educational institutions, training thousands of highly skilled graduates every year and contributing immensely to the sector.

Wyma’s relationship with the College stretches back many years. Many of our engineers studied at UC themselves, and through our Graduate Engineering Program we regularly welcome new students for both short-term projects and full-time employment. In 2020, we opted to sponsor two final-year student projects to help develop the next generation of engineers and engage in some research for the future of Wyma’s product line.

In the first of the 2020 final-year projects, student team members Mitchell Hollows, Caleb Ibbotson, Hayden Leete and Miria Chin researched the automatic detection and processing of parsnips. The students developed a vision system to determine parsnip position on a conveyor belt, which allowed a robotic manipulator to pick up the parsnips and trim the ends using a cutting system. The team assembled a prototype mechanism for the system that delivers 94% accuracy and derived a lot of useful data for future development of automated processing solutions.

The second project, from students Daniel Evans, Jonathan Stevens, Rebecca Pickering and Xiran Liu, examined how fluid-solid separation techniques could be improved in pack-house water recycling systems. The team developed three solutions for testing in the study, with modelling and analysis conducted by the students yielding some promising results and potentially leading to further innovation in Wyma’s water recycling product line.

“Supporting university research forms a key part of what we do in the Engineering team. It allows us to explore ideas and solutions that would not typically be entertained on a commercial project. This gives the students, and our supporting staff, the opportunity to learn, experiment and innovate in creative ways, and apply themselves in an industry setting” says Reuben Miller, Wyma Solutions Engineering Manager.

These projects represent a glimpse into the future of the post-harvest industry, and the future of Wyma. Our relationship with the UC College of Engineering will continue to play a part in that future, through sponsorship of final-year student projects and the Graduate Engineering Program.