Supporting technology talent

In a new initiative by Queenstown’s tech development agency, seven local students are undertaking paid four-week technology internships these summer holidays.

The year 12 and 13 students will each work for one of three local tourism giants — Skyline Enterprises, RealNZ and AJ Hackett Bungy New Zealand (AJHBNZ) — with the support of Technology Queenstown (TQ).

The original idea was to take on three students, but the businesses lifted the intake to seven due to the talent and quality of the applicants.

RealNZ technology GM Rob Huddart says "we were truly blown away by the quality of all the applicants," adding his company’s proud to support the next generation of tech talent.

Skyline’s ICT GM Mike Zeff adds: "Their curiosity, initiative and technical skills impressed us, and many showed strong problem-solving ability, creativity and a genuine passion for learning."

AJHBNZ chief information officer Dan Waugh says "their knowledge of tech and enthusiasm to explore tech careers bodes well for the future of Queenstown".

Sarah Russell, TQ’s CEO, says one of their key drivers is to create opportunities for young local people, "so I’m really excited to be partnering with the three businesses".

"They’re going to get a great range of exposure to what real-world tech is.

"I think today a lot of kids feel like they need to leave the region to go and get experience and meaningful tech work, so we really want to demonstrate this is a growing sector and there are opportunities in this space locally."

The internships were open to secondary schools across Queenstown-Lakes and Central Otago, however six of those selected are from Wakatipu High and Ollie Blakey’s from the local Liger Leadership Academy.

The seven are:

• Alice Davis, who’s interning with RealNZ, is looking at pursuing engineering at Canterbury University, and potentially mechatronics or programming.
• Alisha Messingham, who’s interning with Skyline, is off to Wellington’s Victoria University next year to do software engineering.
• Ollie Blakey, who’s also interning with Skyline, is looking at pursuing entrepreneurship within the field of AI.
• Liam Tietjens, who’s interning with AJHBNZ, is studying computer engineering at Canterbury University next year.
• Oscar Childs, who’s interning with Skyline, will probably do computer science at Canterbury Uni with research in the tech and mathematics fields.
• Makam Adams. who’s interning with AJHBNZ, is looking into studying mechatronics engineering or industrial product design at Canterbury Uni.
• Sammy Sison, who’s interning with Skyline, is interested in AI and cyber security or software engineering.