R&D Internships (Nov 2024)

Ko wai matou? Who are we? 

Zespri is more than simply the world’s single-largest marketer of kiwifruit. We like to think of ourselves as fruit on a mission and as rebels with a cause: to help people, communities and the environment around the world thrive through the goodness of kiwifruit. We are proudly the world’s largest marketer of kiwifruit, selling kiwifruit in more than 50 countries. We work with around 2,800 New Zealand and 1,500 international growers and post-harvest companies to source the best-quality Zespri Kiwifruit which we supply through our distribution partners to wholesale and retail customers. We are one of New Zealand’s best-known international brands, dedicated to creating sustainable long-term value for growers.  

He aha te mahi? What’s the opportunity?

We have seven R&D internship projects kickstarting in November 2024, and are looking for keen individuals who are wanting to gain kiwifruit industry experience in Tauranga, Bay of Plenty and apply their studies in a commercial environment. An R&D Intern will have the opportunity to dive into an exciting business-based project, and grow their understanding of the kiwifruit industry, the R&D environment of a corporate organisation, and develop professional skills along the way. 

Program dates: Tuesday 28th Nov 2024 – Friday 16th Feb 2025. Please note; you need to be able to commit for the entire duration of the internship. 

Projects:

Evaluation of Sustainable Orchard Practices 

This project will involve an investigation to identify and review commonly adopted Freshwater Farm Plan grower actions/ management practices, that are likely to be most often selected by kiwifruit growers in response to setting up their Freshwater Farm Plan. Project tasks will include gathering information on the costs and benefits of the actions, as well as investigating the potential impact of these actions on the orchard and the environment. For this project applicants will have an environmental science, behavioural science/psychology background.

Allocation and Routing Optimisation for Digital Orchard Surveys

The Digital Orchard Surveying project faces the challenge of optimal site appointment/ scheduling for seasonal scanning. Scanning units will visit orchards to complete an orchard scan each season. The challenge for this intern project is improving the efficiency of scanning through a more optimal allocation by using an algorithmic, numerical optimisation approach. The end result may look like a piece of software that takes inputs and produces an optimised schedule. For this project applicants will have a background in computer science (or related discipline).

Nutritional Metrics of Kiwifruit

Kiwifruit is known as an incredibly nutrient-rich fruit. Health benefits can be associated with individual nutrients but the combination of nutrients is also a powerful consideration that has received little attention to date. This project would undertake to use existing nutrient composition data for our kiwifruit varieties to calculate nutrient density/adequacy/other metrics and summarise the relative merits and shortcomings of each approach in a report. For this project applicants will have a nutrition and/or dietetics background.

Evaluation & evolution of low-cost autonomous drone navigation

Orchard navigation and surveying can be high cost due to the level of specialised equipment and labour resources required. This project aims to evaluate existing navigation solutions, identify improvements and progress the implementation and testing of these enhancements. The student will be working with the University of Waikato WaiRAS https://eng.waikato.ac.nz/research/WaiRAS, one of Zespri’s research providers. The challenge is to evaluate their current robotic navigation system and identify enhancements with support from the WaiRAS team. This project will involve compensated travel to Hamilton to meet and work with the WaiRAS team. For this project, applicants will have a background in mechatronics, electronics, or software engineering and have their full driver's licence. 

Fruit Performance Technical Resource Generation

Communication and customer relationships are very important to Zespri. This project looks to help the Zespri Fruit Performance team in processing and answering communications received from our markets regarding various aspects of fruit quality, storage and performance. The aim of this project is to review how FAQs are currently managed and to build a more efficient process or information system for generating, updating, and compiling technical information/ resources/ data relating to fruit performance which can be referenced and provided to the market. Applicants for this project will have a science background with strong written and verbal communication. 

Defect classification

Zespri focuses on supplying our markets with top-quality fruit. There are considerable efforts made by Zespri to ensure only product that meets Zespri's quality standard is exported to the markets, including Zespri’s team of quality assessors and fruit inspectors, who regularly check fruit prior to export. This project will help classify defects and prepare training materials that will be used as learning tools for our quality assessors and fruit inspectors. Applicants for this project will have a background in fruit physiology, postharvest, and/or horticulture. 

Maturity clearance lab proficiency

The aim of this project is to review and recommend improvements to the current maturity clearance lab process. Including a review of statistical methods and visualisations behind the current analysis, researching and evaluating alternative methods for comparing lab comparison and looking at new ways to report results. Applicants for this project will have a background in statistics and/or data science.

He aha e tika ai a Zespri? Why Zespri?

You will be based in the beautiful Bay of Plenty, a great place to spend the summer. Beaches, Mauao (Mount Maunganui), waterfalls and the Kaimai ranges are all close by for summer day adventures! You will need to manage your own accommodation, however, our local economic agency, Priority One, provides some great resources on where to look Student Resource - working in the BOP guide and Zespri can offer support to you in the process of finding accommodation.

Zespri R&D Interns will have the opportunity to be a part of Priority One’s Summer Open Lab – a student intern community consisting of a series of events bringing together students working in companies across the BOP over the Nov – Feb period.

Me pehea te tono? How do I apply?

Pre-register now and get notified once the application opens then follow the steps below.

Please send through your CV and a one-page cover letter. In your cover letter please specify which project(s) you are most interested in, and which you feel your skills are best suited to. 

To be eligible to apply you need to meet the following selection criteria:

• Studying, or recently completed, an undergraduate or postgraduate degree or qualification at NZQA level 6-10. If the study has been completed, your final semester should be less than 12 months ago.
• Studying or has studied, science, technology, engineering, design or business studies at a New Zealand tertiary education institute.
• Legally permitted to work in New Zealand. 

Tono mai inaianei! Apply Now! Applications close Friday 1st September 2024.

At Zespri, we understand the importance of diverse perspectives and experiences, and a fair hiring process is the first step to getting there. We want to attract a diverse range of people and encourage everyone from all backgrounds and walks of life to apply. Please let us know if you need any assistance or reasonable adjustments to take part in the recruitment and selection process. You can reach out to our Talent Acquisition team via email at careers@zespri.com to have a chat to someone directly.