Two new Flying Kiwis enter the Tait NZ Hi-Tech Hall of Fame
Serial hi-tech entrepreneurs Rod Drury and Selwyn Pellett, were today named as this year's recipients of the Tait Radio Communications' Flying Kiwi Awards at a breakfast in Wellington. The pair gain immediate entry into the Tait NZ Hi-Tech Hall of Fame, joining founding member Sir Angus Tait and previous recipients Neville Jordan, Sir Woolf Fisher & Maurice Paykel, Sir Peter Maire, Bill Gallagher, Trevor Eagle, Ian Taylor, Dennis Chapman and Sir Gil Simpson.
"It is the highest honour our high tech industry bestows upon an individual," says NZ Hi-Tech Trust chair Wayne Norrie. "You need to have shown inspiration, innovation and leadership over a sustained period of time to be considered. This year over 150 industry leaders were asked to put forward their nominations for the Tait Flying Kiwi award, resulting in some 30 individuals being nominated of whom the two recipients were considered to be most deserving of the title."
In making the announcement, Frank Owen, Managing Director of Tait Radio Communications said, "Rod and Selwyn are both truly inspirational business leaders and are making an enormous, ongoing, contribution to New Zealand's technology industries. They are deserving of this award and will continue to inspire young entrepreneurs to even greater heights." "The Flying Kiwi Award holds a special place in the heart of Tait employees; Sir Angus Tait was the inaugural winner of the Flying Kiwi Award in 2003 and it meant a lot to him because the award came from his peers", he says. "Celebrating high tech company excellence was always close to Angus's heart."