Tait Communications Hi-Tech Hall of Fame - Flying Kiwi

“It’s no good doing what anyone can do. You have to go after the stuff that is too complicated for the average engineer so you can be “Johnny on the spot” when the demand hits.”

Bill Buckley is the founder of Buckley Systems Limited (BSL), the world’s leading supplier of precision electromagnets used in the manufacture of silicon chips, flat-panel screens, high-end medical machinery and particle accelerators. Remarkably, the company supplies machinery used in the manufacture of more than 90% of the world’s silicon chips and employs close to 300 people from its humble premises in Mt Wellington.

At school, Bill dreamed about building very large things and took an early interest in nuclear physics before embarking on a career in engineering.

Initially Bill could see opportunities everywhere, but was constantly knocked back unable to make them a reality. He held on to the belief that he could produce a product better than anyone else in the world and did not give up.

The company Bill founded in 1978 survived in its early days on simple engineering jobs, with Bill travelling relentlessly trying to break into the US market despite little success. In 1982 to save his company Bill sold shares to give him the cashflow he needed, leaving him a minority shareholder in his own business.

After surviving that ‘bump’ Bill’s main contractor then went into receivership - which actually gave him the opportunity to snap up the equipment for next to nothing. The company then began to achieve success as it embarked on its goal of building electromagnets.

In 1986, a new chapter began when Bill sold his minority shareholding in the original business and established a new company to aggressively go after the US market.

Today, BSL’s range of products, including precision electromagnets, charged particle beam line systems and high-vacuum equipment, are not only used in the semiconductor ion implant industry but also medical proton and photon therapy – systems that will revolutionise cancer treatments of the future.

Bill is known for working relentlessly on and in his own company. You will often find him hands-on with the machinery and zipping around on his Segway.

When Bill’s not at the office, or with his seven children, you’ll likely find him grooming the track at Western Springs prior to the opening of the speedway – his other great passion in life, and one in which he has personally invested a huge amount of money enabling the continuation of the great tradition of speedway at Western Springs.