Southland Boys’ High School student Leuma Niue cannot wait to study engineering, after he took part in the Ngā Ara ki te Mahi Kaipūkaha
— a career event for Māori and Pasifika students.
Great South, Engineering New Zealand and the Matata Initiative invited Māori and Pasifika students to explore the world of professional engineering at the event held at the Murihiku Marae last week.
The 18-year-old student said he felt inspired after hearing from the industry advisers and attending the career pathway had now helped him see that he could become an engineer.
"They [speakers] have been really helpful and I’m thankful that they came down and took their time out to show us what we could do to get into engineering," Leuma said.
He had since been approached by a University of Canterbury representative to apply for their engineering scholarship.
Bosnich principal civil engineer and Engineering New Zealand South lead Jeremy Rees said the industry would benefit from having more Māori and Pasifika engineers, he hoped the event helped the students see engineering was a part of their cultural narrative.
"We wanted them [students] to make connections between where they had come from — how they did things and . . .how those things integrated into engineering," Mr Rees said.
The event attracted 75 year 9 to year 13 Māori and Pasifika rangatahi from Invercargill and Gore schools.
Launching catapults and creating windmills created a "buzz of energy" from the students as they competed for the recognition of designing the best structures.
Great South youth futures team manager Renata Gill said the day had been amazing and was a great way to show Māori and Pasifika students that they had the potential for careers in the world of engineering.
"Inspiring Māori and Pasifika students to get into engineering is what we wanted and we managed to do that through activities, making connections and from the . . .help of the many industry [professionals]," Mrs Gill said.
