Gallagher Security Helps Young Kiwis Explore Technology at the Mobile Innovation Lab

Hamilton, New Zealand – Gallagher Security is bringing hands-on security technology to students across Franklin through the new Mobile Innovation Lab. 

The travelling lab, delivered by Innovation Franklin in partnership with Auckland University of Technology (AUT), launched at the Uplift Centre in Pukekohe on Friday, 7 August 2026. 

As part of the lab, Gallagher Security has created a hands-on, interactive security experience that lets students discover how modern technology protects people, property and places. Designed for students from primary to high school, the exhibit invites them to take on a perimeter protection challenge and unlock a locker with a key fob to claim a reward. Students can also see a light turn red and green as a security system is armed and disarmed, and watch another light switch on and off on a schedule to demonstrate how buildings can automate and save energy. Every part of the experience uses real Gallagher technology, and the whole exhibit is completely safe, with no electrical current used anywhere. 

“Gallagher Security is proud to support Innovation Franklin and its new Mobile Innovation Lab,” said Mark Junge, Chief Executive of Gallagher Security. “It’s designed to give today’s students the inspiration to innovation for tomorrow, right here in Franklin, helping to Unlock More of New Zealand’s productivity potential. Congratulations to everyone involved in bringing it to life, including Innovation Franklin Board Chair Mike Marr.” 

Built with technology designed and made in New Zealand, the exhibit aims to spark curiosity about Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and the careers behind it. 

“It was genuinely fun to build,” said Hennie Lombard, Sales Solutions Engineer for the Upper North Island at Gallagher Security. “This project really resonated with me, because it took me back to a moment that inspired my own journey into engineering. I was about 11 years old, in 1977, when my school hosted a technology exhibition. The hall was filled with futuristic posters, and one stayed with me: a person standing with a phone attached to their belt. At the time it seemed like science fiction. Today we all carry smartphones with far more computing power than the systems used during the Apollo moon missions.” 

“That’s exactly the feeling we wanted to give these students,” he added. “We took real Gallagher technology – the same readers, controllers and perimeter systems used to protect sites around the world – and turned it into something students can interact with and easily understand. If it sparks even a little curiosity about STEM and helps young people see what technology can do, then we’ve achieved our goal.” 

The Mobile Innovation Lab is part of a wider Innovation Franklin programme. Established in 2021, the charity creates opportunities for young people across Franklin. Its other initiatives include a Youth Shark Tank for young people aged 14 to 18, real-world business challenges for primary students, and a cardboard challenge in which students build what they imagine Franklin will look like in 50 to 100 years. 

“Innovation Franklin was established in 2021 to help position Franklin and wider New Zealand for the future,” said Mike Marr, Chair of the Innovation Franklin Board. “Since then, we’ve spoken with thousands of young people in our schools, inspiring them to imagine what’s possible. The Mobile Innovation Lab is a great step forward. It lets young minds see and touch the future, and dream about the careers of the future. None of this would have been possible without our sponsors, supporters and the community.”

Alongside Gallagher Security, the lab features hands-on exhibits from AUT, Alato and Counties Energy, made possible with community support.