Kia ora and welcome to the August edition of We are OPAIC 

In this month’s issue of We are OPAIC, you can read about a graduate who had the opportunity to perform in front of more than 42,000 people during the FIFA Women’s World Cup opening ceremony. We’ll also tell you about how our IT students have been learning by doing. Finally, you can see what our construction lecturers have been getting up to outside of the classroom lately.  

Talk of the Campus

Graduate performs at FIFA opening

An OPAIC graduate had the experience of a lifetime dancing in the opening ceremony of the FIFA Women’s World Cup last month.

Angela Louise (Angel) Arevalo says she was keen to take part because the event is all about unity, diversity, and women’s empowerment.

She was picked to lead one of 32 dance groups to perform at the opening ceremony. Each group represented a different country competing in the tournament. Read all about her here.

Hands-on experience for IT students

Our Information Technology students are learning by doing this Study Block. Students in the Platforms and Devices course had the opportunity to team up and deconstruct computers before putting them back together again. Lecturer Barry Dowdeswell hopes these sorts of experiential activities will allow students to hit the ground running when they enter the industry.

Site visits for construction lecturers

Construction lecturers Srividya Krishnamoorthy and Priyanka Raina had a wonderful opportunity to visit Karanga-a-Hape Station, part of City Rail Link (CRL), which is New Zealand's largest transport infrastructure project. 

The Karanga-a-Hape station in Mercury Lane (pictured) will be the deepest of the City Rail Link stations at 33 metres deep and it will have 203-metre long platforms. The opportunity to visit the site was provided through their NZ Institute of Building (NZIOB) memberships.  

Srividya, Priyanka, and Imelda Piri also visited one of the leading GIB board manufacturers, Winstone Wallboards, in Onehunga. This was organised by the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC) Auckland Chapter. 

Srividya says it was a wonderful opportunity to see the complete process of making different types of plasterboards. It was also excellent to see a few of our construction student members of NAWIC at the site. The Winstone Wallboards team was kind enough to explain the process and provide food to all members.

Construction lecturers upskill

The Construction teaching team has undergone two trainings recently.

Srividya Krishnamoorthy, Priyanka Raina, and Imelda Piri attended a two-day training on Contract Essentials and Dispute Procedures. 

It was all about the introduction of new provisions to the building standards including the need for advanced notification of matters likely to affect time and cost, specific provisions relating to programmes, safety plans, quality plans, and traffic management plans. It also covered clearer provisions for valuing variations, and updated provisions relating to payment claims as well as new schedules.

All of our construction lecturers have also attended a one-day training on a 3D estimating software called iTWO costX. They learned about navigating around 3D models, measurement techniques, importing Building Information Modelling (BIM) data, BIM model mapping, and 3D Model Revisions.

Srividya said these trainings were very interactive and insightful and provided opportunities for learning, networking, and development.

Getting familiar with our local library

Students enjoyed their visit to Auckland Public Library at the end of last month. Our Student Success Team organises a trip to the library near the beginning of each study block to allow students to see the facilities we have on offer right behind our campus.

Covid-19 update

The Government has announced it has removed all remaining Covid-19 restrictions including the requirement for people with Covid-19 to isolate for seven days, and the requirement to wear face masks in healthcare facilities. It is still important that we take steps to keep ourselves and each other safe on campus. Please stay at home if you are feeling unwell. If you have tested positive for Covid-19, it is recommended you isolate for five days. Please continue to follow public health guidelines to protect yourself, your whānau, and your community. More information is available here.

Upcoming Events

Sign up for our Study Block 3 events

We offer a wide range of events each Study Block. Check out everything we’ve got on offer and register your interest here.

New Staff

Patricia Joseph has recently joined us as the Employability Services and Events Coordinator.

With an impressive career spanning over a decade at renowned organisations like LinkedIn and Microsoft, Patricia has honed her talent development and management expertise. She's played pivotal roles in shaping talent solutions, leading talent readiness initiatives, and developing impactful training programs.

As a passionate advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, Patricia has made meaningful contributions towards empowering underrepresented groups to access economic opportunities. Her work at LinkedIn enabled non-profits, job seekers, students, and veterans in the APAC region to connect with invaluable skills, resources, jobs, and networks.

Born and raised in India in a multicultural family, Patricia brings a rich cultural perspective to our team. She firmly believes in lifelong learning, is pursuing a Master of Applied Management from our campus and holds an Inner MBA diploma from Mindful NYU. 

Patricia's commitment to fostering student employability aligns perfectly with our mission here at AIC. As the Employability Services and Events Coordinator, she looks forward to leveraging her wealth of experience to empower our students to be fully work-ready and thrive in their chosen careers.

Employability Corner

Career insights event with Auckland Council

This month we held our Career Insights event where our students from various disciplines, including IT, Business Information Systems, and Applied Management, had an extraordinary opportunity to engage with industry experts, Harman Singh, the Digital Delivery Manager from Tātaki Auckland Unlimited, and Kennedy Sua, the Project Talent Acquisition Consultant from Auckland Council.

This was a great opportunity for students to gain first-hand insights into the job market and the vibrant world of digital delivery directly from the leaders of these domains.

Kennedy and Harman delivered an interactive session and discussed emerging trends, helping students understand the skills needed to thrive in the management and tech sectors. They also shared a multitude of career paths awaiting students and allowed participants to ask questions, join their professional networks and uncover the secrets of launching successful careers.

Coffee Connections with OPAIC alumni

At OPAIC, we pride ourselves on providing strong career support to international students, helping them transition into the local workforce with confidence. Our commitment to supporting international students is reflected in the OPAIC vision of developing New Zealand’s most employable graduates, and our mission of growing a global workforce.

This month we had the pleasure of hosting our new Study Block 3 students to connect with our OPAIC alumni mentors at our official event, Coffee Connections, which was held at Gateau House next to our campus. During the event, our current students were able to connect with our alumni mentors to get personalised and supportive career guidance for their professional journeys in New Zealand.

Our mentors, Christiaan William, Anuvindh, Kashmira More, Diogo Lara, Yashraj Chhabra, Lavender, and Lecturer, Jay Hourani generously volunteered 90 minutes of their time and expertise.

Portable Power internship event

We had the opportunity to partner with an innovative startup, Portable Power NZ to undertake an exciting work-integrated learning project. We are in the process of shortlisting our Applied Management Learner Project Team for the business development of a new product aimed at reducing the usage of diesel-powered generators.

This hands-on project offers an incredible chance for learners to apply their skills in Sales, Marketing & Strategy in real-world scenarios, under the expert guidance of our Applied Management HoD Russell Harray with mentorship from Lee Taylor, Managing Director of Portable Power Ltd and John Akurangi, National Director of Business Development at Portable Power.

This model of experiential learning is a testament to our commitment towards preparing our students for the future of work, by creating tangible outcomes linked to real business goals.

LinkedIn Workshop

The Employability Centre recently delivered a LinkedIn workshop for our Study Block 3 learners. The session was hosted by Patricia Joseph and focused on the power of LinkedIn and how it can be an absolute game-changer for one’s professional career.

This was an active workshop, where participants were immersed in a working session that focused on creating and optimising their LinkedIn profiles to stand out in the professional world. The workshop covered essential aspects such as profile elements, recommendations, elevator pitches and engagement that showcase individual journeys effectively.

In addition, attendees delved into the art of networking on LinkedIn. They learned how to establish valuable connections, engage with industry peers, and harness the platform's potential for personal branding. The workshop highlighted the significance of curating and sharing relevant content to demonstrate expertise and thought leadership.

Green Office Toitū introductory workshop for our Study Block 3 newcomers

Green Office Toitu (GOT) recently hosted an introductory event for our Study Block 3 newcomers that showcased the remarkable achievements GOT has made through our sustainability engagement on Campus through our Green Selfie Challenge, volunteering efforts with the Aureate Reforestation project, and an introduction to the Sustainable Practitioner Programme Mapping and a Carbon Footprint project. We also introduced our new GOT intern, Fiona, who took over Trinh’s work, to the new block of students.

GOT team building and strategy brainstorming

In a dynamic and collaborative session, GOT team convened to shape the trajectory for the second half of 2023 and into 2024. This pivotal gathering was centred around the core aspiration of cultivating sustainable practitioners, a vision highlighted by Sean Bell, AIC Academic Director. GOT interns Vivi and project member Marlou shared their work. Staff volunteers, Melissa Walsh, Russell Harray, Indra Kularatne, and Waruni Hewage discussed how to empower and transition GOT into a fully student-run sustainability hub on campus, in alignment with the vision of developing sustainable practitioners. 

Promoting composting on campus

This month Green Office Toitu partnered with our campus to promote the use of composite bins placed on campus. Our GOT intern, Vivi, ran the promotions via our weekly newsletter and on our LinkedIn and social media handles.

We connected Auckland's 2040 waste-free vision to our announcement that compost bins are now available for all of us to use on campus. The messaging built awareness of how composting is a simple yet powerful way to reduce our environmental footprint. It discussed how we can transform organic waste into nutrient-rich soil that nourishes the earth by composting organic waste, such as fruit and veggie scraps, coffee grounds, eggshells, and plant trimmings.

We hope through this initiative, we can help our learners lead by example in our mission to create a more sustainable campus environment. We believe, together, we can make a significant impact!