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National | Manawatu

Whiz kids reach for the stars

Palmerston North’s Tairea brothers are proof that Māori have all the makings of becoming superstars in the technology industry.

A year ago Ian and Ben Tairea were certainly a force to be reckoned with, taking out the inaugural AgTech Hackathon Manawatu with their better farming solution.

“We just like to dabble with technology and punch above our weight.  We try and do things on the cheap but just being innovative about it.  It’s kind of that number 8 wire kiwi mentality,” Ian says.

A year later, they’re still going strong, spreading their success across two completely different hackathon competitions.

One could send them to space, and the other out to sea.  The brothers are making huge inroads using the latest technology to solve technical problems, and they’re not holding back.