Pharmaceutical scientist Sir Ray Avery – keynote speaker at this year’s Single Width Users’ Group (SWUG) conference – became interested in science while living on the streets and being drawn to the warmth of public libraries.
“Having spent his childhood in English orphanages and foster homes, he developed an interest in science at the age of 14 while living rough on the streets of London and seeking warmth and inspiration in public libraries,” said SWUG chairperson Dan Blackbourn.
Avery has been a major contributor to the development of New Zealand’s pharmaceutical industry over the past 30 years. He’s a founding member of the Auckland University School of Medical Science’s Department of Clinical Pharmacology and former technical director of Douglas Pharmaceuticals.
Avery is renowned as an entertaining speaker and has great stories to share, said Blackbourn.
This year’s 15th annual SWUG conference is being held at the scenic Millennium Hotel in Rotorua in New Zealand on August 19-20. The Print with Passion-themed conference will also feature a tour of the paper-making plant of Norske Skog in Kawerau (approximately 60 minutes’ drive from Rotorua).
Formerly known as the Tasman Pulp and Paper Company, the Kawerau mill was the brainchild of Sir James Fletcher. “After significant planting schemes in the 1920s and 1930s, a large forestry resource was available to be capitalised upon, and the Fletcher Group duly started constructing the Tasman Pulp and Paper Co in 1952,” said Blackbourne. “Kawerau itself built up around the development of the mill, with the town attracting people from all over New Zealand and the world to work on the construction and to be employed at the site once it officially opened in 1955. The mill originally employed several thousand people and produced a range of products including kraft pulp and newsprint, eventually expanding operations to meet growing demand for products over the years.
“The Tasman Pulp and Paper Co has undergone significant change over the years, developing from the previously joint kraft pulp and paper company, into the current Norske Skog operation. It is now a newsprint-only site, after the kraft pulp operations were sold to Carter Holt Harvey in 2001.”
Blackbourn says a good accommodation rate has been secured with the Millennium Hotel Rotorua, a Qualmark 4 Star Plus-rated hotel located on the edge of the CBD. Bookings can be made via the SWUG website listed below.
Registrations to the conference close on June 30.