Our Founder

Bill Buckley’s drive, determination and vision make Buckley Systems the market leader it is today.

The Recipe for Success

Bill Buckley's story is one-part engineering genius and one-part entrepreneurial spirit.

  • Bill Buckley is one of 13 children. He was raised on a farm near the small Waikato town of Te Kauwhata, New Zealand. It was on this land that former midget racecar driver Doug Mullins carved out his own racetrack. If ever there was an environment destined to produce someone who’d become a racing and machine nut, this was it.

    Bill’s first job after he left school was working for a shipbuilder. At the time, he thought this fulfilled his dream to “build the biggest thing I can think of.” But what he didn’t expect was something he loved even more: Building machines—the most precise equipment he could imagine.

“I was always much more interested in the difficult jobs rather than the straightforward ones. That’s why I was so attracted to the magnet business. It’s no good doing what anyone else can do. You have to go after the stuff that is too complicated for the average engineer so you can be Johnny on the spot when the demand hits.”

— Bill Buckley, Founder and Managing Director of Buckley Systems

  • A conversation with a nuclear physicist revealed that electromagnets are tough to get right. That challenge suited Bill right down to his core. Bill created Buckley Systems in 1987 to crack the electromagnet market, dominated at the time by U.S. companies. No one thought he could pull it off. Not his business partner. Not his bank. Not his dad.

    Buckley Systems powers a significant part of the modern world we live in.

    Today, Buckley Systems supplies electromagnets used to manufacture the majority of the world’s silicon chips. If it’s a smart device you use every day, or a medical scanner protecting your health, there’s probably a bit of Bill Buckley magic at its heart. In 2013, Bill Buckley received the Insignia of a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to technology, business and motorsport.

  • Bill Buckley
    Racing/Speedway

    Beyond Buckley Systems, Bill Buckley has pursued a range of business interests that reflect both his technical expertise and personal passions. He founded Neutron Therapeutics to commercialise Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT), an advanced cancer treatment that applies accelerator technology to medical use, marking a significant expansion into healthcare innovation. In addition to high-technology ventures, Bill Buckley has also invested in and supported Speedway, having achieved back-to-back sidecar racing wins in the late 1960s, demonstrating a strong interest in motorsport promotion and community-focused entertainment alongside his engineering and scientific enterprises.

Bill’s Awards & Achievements

2002 - Recognised as an ‘Honorary Fellow’ of Engineering New Zealand

2011 - Entrepreneur of the Year Master Award (Ernst & Young)

2011 - New Zealand Entrepreneur of the Year Award (Ernst & Young)

2011 - Supreme Technical Award for Engineering Achievers (Institution of Professional Engineers NZ)—the Rabone Award for technical achievement in Information, Communication, Electrical and Electronic Technology

2012 - Services to Motorcycling Award (Motorcycling NZ)

2012 - World Entrepreneur of the Year finalist (Ernst & Young)

2012 - Honorary Doctorate of Engineering (University of Auckland)

2013 - Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year finalist (Kiwibank New Zealand)

2013 - Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to technology, business and motorsport (New Zealand New Year’s Honors List)

2013 - World Class New Zealander Award for Manufacturing, Design and Innovation (Kea New Zealand)

2013 - Flying Kiwi Award (New Zealand Hi-Tech Trust)

2014 - Certificate of Honor as Patron of Maintenance Engineering Society of New Zealand (Maintenance Engineering Society of New Zealand)

2017 - Contribution to Speedway (Speedway New Zealand)

2018 - Induction into the New Zealand Business Hall of Fame (Young Enterprise Trust)

2020 - Trade Me Innovator of the Year Award (Kiwibank)

2021 - Speedway New Zealand Life Member (Speedway New Zealand)

2023 - Induction into the Speedway New Zealand Hall of Fame (Speedway New Zealand)

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