Building Connections and Collaboration in Christchurch – UAVNZ Networking Event Recap

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Last week, AIANZ Division UAVNZ and Aerospace NZ co-hosted our third networking event, in Ōtautahi Christchurch. It was another opportunity to bring together innovators, operators, researchers, and industry leaders from across the unmanned aviation and wider aerospace sector.

Stefanie Dixon, AIANZ’s Business Operations Lead, welcomed everyone and introduced the work AIANZ and the UAVNZ Division are doing to support and connect our members. AIANZ Acting President Gordon Alexander shared an overview of our recent and current UAVNZ work, particularly our focus on regulatory engagement. He highlighted the community-developed submission template we created to help members and stakeholders respond to the Civil Aviation Authority’s Notices of Proposed Rule Making (NPRMs) which closed on Sunday, 27 July.

Brydee Gibbins introduced Aerospace NZ and spoke to the value of co-hosting this event, the crossover of our organisation’s membership base, and the importance of strengthening ties with Christchurch’s research and development ecosystem. Martin Cudd from ChristchurchNZ followed with a recap of the Waitara Canterbury Aerospace Strategy.

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Main Speakers: Innovation Grounded in Aotearoa

The evening’s speaker lineup reflected the diverse and exciting work happening across the UAV and aerospace space.

Scott Spooner of SPS Automation shared the inspiring journey of his company; proudly NZ Made, building their own UAV technologies here in Christchurch, including systems designed to improve agricultural operations such as wilding pine eradication. Scott generously offered attendees a behind-the-scenes tour of their development workshop and facilities. We’re especially grateful to SPS Automation for sponsoring the evening, thank you for keeping everyone fuelled with kai and drinks!

Philip from Kea Aerospace gave us a peek into their R&D programme and discussed how high-altitude flight technology could transform environmental monitoring and connectivity in Aotearoa and beyond.

To close the evening, Julian Phillips of Tāwhaki brought us back to our kaupapa, our connection to each other and the whenua. Julian shared the story of this land, its deep history, and Tāwhaki’s commitment to developing the area in partnership with mana whenua and the wider Christchurch community, honouring both innovation and cultural connection.

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A Night of Conversations and Community

This event, our third following Feilding and Taupō, highlighted what makes UAVNZ so valuable; genuine connection. Whether it was members meeting face-to-face for the first time, spontaneous problem-solving chats over a drink, exploring ideas for collaboration, or simply understanding the sheer scale of an agricultural drone and it’s potential and capacity to elevate our agricultural capacity.

As we build momentum toward our upcoming UAVNZ Symposium and AIANZ Annual Conference, events like these are reminders of the importance of showing up, sharing knowledge, and strengthening our community. The UAVNZ Symposium runs over two afternoons on Monday 15th and Tuesday 16th September, or alternatively get your ticket to the whole conference, including the Sunday evening networking event, before early bird ends on 31 July 2025.

Get Involved – Your Voice Matters

To our members: we want to hear from you. What would you like to see more of at future events? What support do you need from your industry association? Your feedback helps us build value that matters. Contact us here.

A huge thank you to all our speakers, hosts Aerospace NZ and host/sponsors SPS Automation and attendees for making this evening a success.

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