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

In this month’s issue, we introduce a new Migrant Women in New Zealand Community being led by the OPAIC team. We’ll tell you about a number of events held to connect learners with industry over the past month and share the photos from last week’s Diwali festivities organised by students.

Talk of the Campus

New community launched for migrant women

Migrant women and allies from Otago Polytechnic Auckland International Campus and the wider community enjoyed an inspiring evening as we launched our Migrant Women in New Zealand community. The launch event on campus included keynote speeches and networking opportunities. Many migrant women then shared their stories and advice, talking about everything from continuity of self to the importance of connection. Read all about the event here.

Celebrating Diwali

Our Applied Management students organised a very successful Diwali celebration on campus last week. The event included dance performances, speeches, traditional sweets, and a rangoli competition. Check out the photos here.

IT students engage with industry professionals 

Our IT Team arranged for a group of students to attend a She Sharp event at the University of Waikato recently. She Sharp is all about encouraging women in computer science, computer engineering, IT, and tech-related fields to develop academically and professionally. Our students enjoyed the presentations and networking opportunities. Lecturers said it was inspiring to see students actively engage in networking and participate in insightful discussions with industry professionals.

A message for Construction students

We would like to acknowledge your thoughtful and valuable feedback received through the end-of-block course surveys. In this newsletter we want to let you know what we are doing in response to this feedback. Read all about it here.

Rere Āwhio out now

The latest issue of Rere Āwhio – Journal of Applied Research & Practice is out now.  Rere Āwhio is an open-access, peer-reviewed journal published annually by OPAIC, including the research of our staff and students. Rere Āwhio covers a wide range of academic research topics and provides an excellent opportunity for postgraduate students to get published. You can read the new issue online here.

Construction grad lands QS job

Recent Construction graduate, Leijun Shi, has already landed a job as a Quantity Surveyor at a residential contractor company. Leijun’s grateful for her time at OPAIC. She says our small class sizes meant she received individualised guidance from lecturers. Teamwork undertaken during her study set her up well for the world of work. Read all about her here.

ArchEngBuild Challenge marks 10 years

We're very proud of our student Guangchi (David) Wu who took part in the ArchEngBuild event in Wellington recently. David says he enjoyed the practical experience and the opportunity to work alongside students from other specialties. ArchEngBuild has shared this video about the 10th anniversary of the event.

AI session for IT students 

The OPAIC Employability Centre teamed up with Michelle Hannan-Brown, a Robotic Process Automation leader at Air New Zealand, and IT Lecturer Barry Dowdeswell to introduce IT learners to market trends and insights in the world of Generative AI and IoT recently. Michelle and Barry shared their knowledge with students and talked about how these areas are evolving.

PEAC meeting a success

The IT Team’s last Permanent External Advisory Committee meeting was a successful one. Head of Department, Farhad Mehdipour, introduced our array of innovative programs: including the Bachelor of IT, Graduate Diploma in IT, and Microcredentials. Industry advisors provided valuable comments and suggestions , focusing particularly on the vital aspects of data security, data governance, and the growing significance of cloud computing in today's landscape.

Employability Corner

OPAIC hosts Alumni Mentor Walk

On Saturday 14 October we made the most of the pleasant weather in Auckland by hosting an Alumni Mentor Walk at the beautiful Victoria Park for our Study Block 4 learners. During the event, our mentors walked our students through the New Zealand work landscape, sharing their own journeys to their current career paths, and the tips they had to share to help our learners forge their own ways to career success. Read more here.

Work Ready Graduate Programme launched

We launched our Work Ready Graduate Program for Business and Data Analyst career pathways at OPAIC in October. We invited industry experts to kick off our program with a rich panel discussion. Read all about it here.

Celebrating success stories: a heartwarming reunion 

Some moments are not just special; they're truly heartwarming and encapsulate the essence of why we do what we do. The Employability Team had the pleasure of welcoming a very special group to our campus — the proud parents of our graduate, Vineet Shinde. Read all about it here.

Volunteers and staff lead Green Office workshop

The Green Office Toitū committee hosted an orientation event to welcome our new learners to our sustainability hub. Two new volunteers, Gillian Carlo Smit and James Andrew Collarin, joined our team this block and we are stoked to have them with us. Gillian proudly hosted our workshop and built awareness of sustainability. He ran a fun trivia event with treats for anyone who had answers to the sustainability quiz we created. Read more here.

Great engagement in Work Readiness Workshops

The Work Readiness Workshops offered by the AIC Employability Centre have been seeing an increase in engagement compared to Study Block 3 with our CV writing workshop seeing the most engagement with 40 attendees followed by our LinkedIn workshop, Networking Workshop, and Interview Readiness workshop seeing better engagement than the previous block. Read more here.

Celebrating impactful initiatives and empowered learners 

At Otago Polytechnic Auckland International Campus, we take immense pride in our commitment to not just nurturing academic excellence but also fostering a sense of community and practical employability skill development. Our two flagship initiatives, the Migrant Women in New Zealand community and the Green Office Toitū sustainability hub, have thrived. They've also become a testament to the power of collective impact and personal growth. Read more here.