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

As the year draws to a close, we want to wish you all a happy holiday season. This is our final newsletter of the year, and it’s the perfect opportunity to look back and reflect on some of the highlights we've shared. Here's to a relaxing holiday break and an exciting year ahead.

Looking Back

Celebrating student success

This year’s success stories have included Ann Ivy Roselle Cabanero who took on the role of Women’s Officer in the Executive Committee of the New Zealand International Students'​ Association. We also featured Jacelyn Santiago who landed an HR role with Matrix Security Group after completing her master’s degree. Bikramjeet Singh Suman put himself to the test by signing up for the Auckland Startup Weekend just a month into his life in New Zealand. Nikita Mogilevskii is balancing his IT degree with his work at our IT help desk. Ilgar Isayev returned to academia 20 years after completing his last master's degree and Yupitha Ignatia credits her positive experience to the guidance of knowledgeable lecturers, the support of her friends and classmates, and her willingness to seek help.

Research excellence at OPAIC

Our researchers have been busy again this year. Early in the year we hosted our second annual Smart Sustainable Development conference. We also celebrated Principal Lecturer Lorraine Skelton’s contribution to a book about academic and business engagement. In August, we were fortunate to host a team from the University of Saskatchewan on campus. We had a number of opportunities to hear our postgraduate students present their research findings throughout the year. We've also just published the fourth issue of our research journal Rere Āwhio.

Building connections beyond the classroom

Our students have embraced the full study abroad experience this year, getting involved in social activities outside of the classroom and learning about different cultures. We celebrated the Sinhala and Tamil New Year on campus back in May. Last month, our students organised a spectacular Diwali celebration. Last week, we came together for our Student Christmas Party.

Bringing the industry to the classroom

Students have benefited from a number of guest lecturers over the past 12 months. They’ve included Cheil Worldwide Insights Planner Leah Ahn who spoke to Digital Marketing students. Kambium Change Management Consultant Dinesh Sundararaj talked about Managing Organisational Transformation and Change. Dr Farzana Parveen Tajudeen from Malaysia spoke to learners about Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Business Operations.

Equipping students for the workforce

Students have made the most of opportunities to get ready for the world of work. We’ve hosted Alumni Mentor Coffee Connect sessions throughout the year. In August, Construction students had the opportunity to hear from a panel of construction professionals who shared valuable career insights. Students and alumni enjoyed an evening of networking, advice, and inspiration at our Alumni Mentoring Forum. Students have also attended a number of networking events off campus including Migrants in Tech and Women in Tech events.

This Month's News

Christmas celebrated at OPAIC

Our Student Christmas Party held on campus last week included fun games, delicious food, and a talk about the meaning of Christmas. It was a great way to celebrate together before wrapping up the final study block of the year and heading into the summer holidays.

Thank you for having your say!

The Student Success team would like to extend their appreciation to all OPAIC students who have shared their feedback and suggestions with us in 2024 through our surveys, focus groups and student forums. This feedback helps us improve our processes, student support, facilities and teaching for all learners.

New issue of Rere Āwhio out now

Issue 4 of Rere Āwhio – Journal of Applied Research & Practice is out now. Rere Āwhio is an open-access, peer-reviewed journal published by OPAIC. This year’s issue includes research on vape waste management, pay equity in data science, the impact of remote work on wellbeing, and much more. Rere Āwhio will offer three publication opportunities in 2025, to allow you to get your research out into the world while it’s fresh, timely, and at the forefront of current discussions.

Spotlighting AI and learner success at symposium

OPAIC Te Kaihāpai Sean Bell and Principal Lecturer Te Ama Ako Dunedin Mairead Fountain presented at the Tertiary Education Commission’s third annual Tūwhitia symposium at the end of November. The theme for the Symposium was “Supporting Learner Success in the World of AI”. Sean and Mairead’s presentation “Learning and Cheating” highlighted the complexities of academic integrity in an AI context and encouraged a compassionate, educational, and experiential approach to ākonga and assessment.

Teaming up for disaster response research

OPAIC academics are teaming up with researchers from throughout New Zealand and the world to improve disaster responses. The research is all about supporting evacuees who need to shelter in vehicles or homes during disasters.

Exchanging insights with international researchers

Research Director and Head of Information Technology Farhad Mehdipour had the opportunity to participate in the International Conference of Future Machine Learning and Data Science in Sydney recently.

IT team collaborates with industry

Our IT team held its PEAC meeting at the end of October. It included members from the IT department, as well as around 10 industry experts from different areas in IT. The group discussed current courses offered via OPAIC, Future Skills International, and Future Skills Domestic. They also talked about a proposed postgraduate program in Applied IT featuring core courses in software development, data science, and AI. PEAC members mentioned that the following skills are what the industry is looking for: understanding legacy code, debugging, quality assurance, writing technical documents, integration testing, UI/UX testing and observability.

Table Tennis competition a hit

Students recently organised a Table Tennis Challenger’s Cup, bringing together players from across the campus for some friendly competition. Congratulations to our winners Digvijit, Subhan, and Shahryar. Thank you to the organisers as well as the students who took part and made the event a success. 

Students attend water safety day with police

Student Representative Lakshita Fulara and student Satyam Bhatt went to Ponsonby Cruising Club for a session on Police Marine Water Safety on Sunday. They learned about water safety, using life jackets, and how to save someone from drowning. They also got to check out the police vessel and learned about what police do on the water. The students said it was a fun and insightful session.