Māori scientist thanks his nana’s reo revitalisation stand for his fusion energy interest

OpenStar founder/CEO Ratu Mataira and his team of world-class individuals who are passionate about seeing the world powered by fusion energy. Photo / Supplied

A Māori scientist says the dedication of his grandmother, the late Kāterina Te Heikōkō Mataira, to reviving te reo Māori gave him his “no excuses” attitude to developing fusion energy.

Ratu Mataira’s OpenStar startup has secured more than $10 million in seed investment to work on creating a fusion reactor, which, if successful, would provide New Zealand with a zero-carbon-emission, dependable baseload power source.

He was inspired by his grandmother’s response when the government of the day said the Māori language would become extinct.

Kāterina Mataira. Photo / Te Ara

“She is recognised as being a major figure in the revitalisation of te reo Māori, and there’s a moment in her life that I always look back on, where the government produced a report that said that te reo Māori was going to go extinct,” Mataira said.

“It really meant that I didn’t have any excuses. Building something up like this is super-scary and I’ve got that building something up like this is super-scary and I’ve got that role model that says ‘nah no excuses, get on with it and give it a shot’.”

The 31-year-old, who completed his PhD at Wellington’s internationally renowned Robinson Research Institute, said he was motivated by the pressing need to lower global emissions.

OpenStar hopes to have its first prototype reactor ready for testing by the end of the year.

Additional reporting Waatea.News.Com