Dr Tan accepted the award from the Wellington mayor Celia Wade-Brown at the Wellington Gold Awards evening at TSB Arena.
The Inspire Wellington Ambassador Award is chosen by Wellington City Council. The award goes to an individual who has demonstrated creativity and innovation through their promotion of a product or service overseas and gained international exposure and/or recognition for themselves, their product and Wellington.
Previous recipients of the Inspire Wellington Ambassador Award include Natasha Lampard and Mike Brown, co-founders of the international web conference Webstock; Joe Letteri, a Weta Digital visual effects artist; and Steve Walters, the NZ Sevens Director.
For more on Dr Tan's work, visit the website of the Gilles McIndoe Research Institute.
For more on the Gold Awards, visit the Gold Awards Website.