Professor David Hutchinson

Biography

As director of the Dodd Walls Centre – a national Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE) - Prof. David Hutchinson is dedicated to educational outreach, while providing strong support for industry engagement and leadership of research activities across the Centre's five member universities. He's initiated and led a successful public engagement partnership with the Otago Museum - of which he has been a board member since 2008 – as well as with other museums, schools and agencies throughout New Zealand.

Prof. Hutchinson is also a professor in the University of Otago's Department of Physics. He collaborates internationally and has published extensively. His research expertise pertains to theoretical quantum physics, specifically ultra-cold atomic gases and quantum systems. Prof. Hutchinson continues to teach at all levels from physics for first year health science through to fourth year, and supervises graduate students at both the Masters and PhD level.

Prof. Hutchinson holds a BSc and PhD from the University of Exeter in the UK, plus a recently acquired PGDip(Arts) in Philosophy from Otago. Before moving to New Zealand, he worked in Ireland, Canada and at the University of Oxford. Prof. Hutchinson is a Fellow and the President of the New Zealand Institute of Physics, a Fellow of the Institute of Physics (UK) and a member of the Institute of Directors of New Zealand.