Philippa Loseby’s Monday nights presentation was a great reminder of the variety and talent that we have within our members families.

As part of a Masters in Health Psychology, Philippa investigated the link between physical health and mental health as it applies when people are faced with a major medical issue. The specific issue that formed the focus of the thesis was type 1 diabetes which usually begins to affect people aged under 20 but which can strike at any age. While the exact cause of type 1 diabetes is unknown, usually, the body's own immune system — which normally fights harmful bacteria and viruses — mistakenly destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.

The physical impact of the disease on sufferers and the need for ongoing testing and treatment can have a significant phycological impact which in turn impacts on the efficacy of treatment and ongoing health outcomes.

Philippa used 113 participants with type 1 diabetes and by using a series of questionnaires was able to establish the link between how people responded psychologically to longer term health outcomes. Because poorly controlled diabetes has a serious impact on other aspects of a person’s health managing the disease is vital. Those respondents who showed more positive optimism and a higher degree of self-compassion also demonstrated a higher degree of self-care. That translated into more careful monitoring of blood sugar levels and better control of insulin levels which in turn led to well managed diabetes and better health outcomes.

While the link might now seem self-evident it was not one which had been explored previously and Philippa was invited to present at a conference in Melbourne. She thanked Sylvie Wilkinson and Bill  Duncan for their support with the costs associated with that event.

Rocket Lab Production Director Jamie France attracted such numbers to our meeting on Monday evening that space became a challenge.  More than 100 people crammed into the Banquet Room at Waipuna to hear an enthralling account from Jamie of the launch and rise of Rocket Lab.

Jamie had a design engineer background with Team New Zealand, Fisher & Paykel and Air New Zealand.  From just 12 people when Jamie joined Rocket Lab in 2014, Rocket Lab now employs over 500 people.  300 of those work in the Rocket Lab facility just a stones’ throw from Waipuna, building 17-metre-tall Electron Rockets at the rate of 1 per week.  The rockets are then transported to Mahia and the world’s only private launch site.  The firm has a 100% mission success rate with customer product, putting in low earth orbit satellites for a variety of customers, most of whom are American.  The company is presently building a second launch site in Virginia to solidify its American customer base.  The next stage is to complete an end to end delivery system with its own network tracking stations.  The company builds everything – all hardware, software, avionics and electronics.