The Tauranga engineer who designed and built a kiwifruit picking robot for his PhD thesis has been named as a finalist for the NZ Young Innovator of the year award.

Robotics Plus director Alistair Scarfe was a finalist for the NZ Hi-Tech Young Achiever of the Year in 2012 and won the Tauranga Rocket Young Innovator of the Year title the year before.

Robotics Plus director Alistair Scarfe. Photo: Supplied.

Alistair is the first scholar to receive the Dick and Mary Earle Scholarship in Technology for three consecutive years and was previously awarded a ZESPRI Innovation Fellowship.

Alongside Alistair, another six Bay of Plenty innovators have been named as finalists today, with Terax 2013, UBCO 2X2, and Rhondium OVC Bay of Plenty making the cut in more than one category.

Terax 2013's waste conversion technology treats urban bio-waste as a recyclable resource.

The cost-saving process reduces wastewater, eliminates organic solids, sterilises them, and recovers useful components such as nitrogen and carbon for recycling.

The UBCO 2x2 is an all-wheel drive electric motorbike with rural and urban applications. Lightweight, yet with a huge load capacity low running costs, its lithium batteries can charge tools and electronic devices on site when working remotely.

Scion's patented wood-fibre dice reinforce thermoplastic polymers, enabling commercial production which a more stable, rigid plastic that is less abrasive in machinery and more recyclable.

In the Health and science innovation category, Rhondium One Visit Crown supplies dentists with a ready-made range of crowns which can be fitted in one visit, thereby reducing cost and inconvenience.

The Marketing and Communications Innovation finalists is Look After Me – an online accommodation marketplace for home-based accommodation connecting home owners and guests for short stays.

Roholm Inverse is a new hair conditioning system which uses sub-zero temperature to naturally condition and style hair instead of coating or modifying it with chemicals.

The finalists represent game-changing innovation from every corner of the country, with new products and services from a broad range of industries and business disciplines.

New Zealand Innovation Council CEO Louise Webster says the 2015 entrants give a real sense that Kiwi innovation is moving into the main stream, demonstrating world-leading approaches to innovation with many businesses going global from day one.

'We saw a new wave of innovative businesses focused on solving social issues,” says Louise.

'These organisations are still profit making entities, but are driven by a purpose to help solve the world's problems and have a global impact.”