AMN-5

This last week has seen the 5th of our MacDiarmid Institute "Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology" conferences here in Wellington. 500 attendees, mostly international, met at the Michael Fowler Centre to hear talks by Nobel Laureate Sir Anthony Leggett, Cavendish Professor Sir Richard Friend, and a range of speakers young and old. For me, one of the best aspects of the meeting is that it has drawn to New Zealand, yet again, wonderful friends, Mark Warner, Suzanne Fielding and of course, Ed Samulski, from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. And Ed, on his 7th visit to New Zealand, brought with him wife Carol and son Casey. Last week we walked the Tora Wairarapa Coastal trail together, and I will post pictures from that walk soon.

Last night was the conference dinner and this picture of Ed and me says something of our mood. It was taken after a surprise event in which colleague Kate McGrath, and three of my ex-graduate students, Andrew Coy, Mark Hunter and Craig Rofe, came to the stage of the Town Hall venue, and gave personal tributes involving anecdotes illustrating my idiosyncracies. Craig spoke last with a wonderful korero followed by an electrifying haka, which I stood to receive, before we ended with a heartfelt hongi.

Ed is one of my dearest friends. He is also a comrade, having been through 42 irradiation sessions for prostate cancer. His PSA (prostate specific antigen) levels are now extremely low and his prognosis is good. Ed's trials took place at the same time as my own last year. Somehow, having a great friend fighting his own battle at the same time as me, gave me extra strength.