Welcome to the inaugural Otago Polytechnic Information Technology enewsletter, providing you with insights into our IT programmes and what is happening for our staff and students.

In this issue, hear about our upcoming student showcase, women in IT scholarship recipient, game developers conference and more.

Let us know what you think, we would love to hear from you. 

2024 Information Technology Showcase

On the 22 November we will be celebrating the achievements of our ākonga and the projects they have been working on throughout the year, via posters and presentations. Followed by drinks and nibbles in the He Toki Kai te Rika atrium.

If you are interested in attending, and seeing what our ākonga have been up to, please RSVP by 18 November at the latest. For those looking to come and study with us, this is a fantastic opportunity to see the focus of our curriculum here in the Information Technology programmes, and to meet staff, ākonga and industry representatives.

2025 Women in IT Scholarship Recipient

We are always delighted to offer an annual Women in IT scholarship that’s exclusive to the Bachelor of Information Technology. This year’s winner is Elizabeth (Liz) Minty. Liz is in their 2nd year of the degree and has been a standout learner in all the courses they have taken so far. Liz has approached technical challenges creatively, and their ability to articulate complex ideas makes them a valuable contributor to team projects. Liz has also taken the role of peer tutor by the horns, explaining challenging concepts to fellow learners with patience and clarity. Liz has been commended for their communication, teamwork and leadership and these qualities will serve them so well as they contemplate a career in the IT industry.

Liz has just landed an internship with Education Perfect in Dunedin. We are so pleased to have Liz with us. They are such an asset to the staff, other learners and the BIT itself.

CITRENZ Conference

Recently we hosted the CITRENZ (Computing and Information Technology Research and Education New Zealand) 2024 Conference in He Toki Kai Te Rika at Otago Polytechnic. It’s the premiere computing education conference in New Zealand and spans all disciplines of computing and IT education. While focusing on tertiary education, it also provides links from secondary education and further into the industry. The theme for this year was “digital diversity” and we had about 20 paper presentations, a similar number of posters presented, as well as some interesting workshops and panels. The Keynote speakers were informative and provided a lot to ponder about how IT Education is provided in our current environment. We had around about fifty attendees over the three days and it appeared that a lot of fun was had by all in spite of the horrendous weather.

Hamish Smith (Citrenz chair and Head of IT Certificates Programmes)

IT for the community good

Grayson Orr, our Principal Lecturer in Software Development, has been converting an old Vue.js web application to React. The application is used by Dunedin School of Art learners and educators to submit their artwork information via a simple form. Once they have filled out the form, it creates a catalogue page they then use at SITE 2024, their big end-of-year showcase to present and sell their artwork. We love your work, Grayson!

Ngā Taonga O Te Whare Mātoro: Treasures of Whare Mātoro

On 8 November, The Hub at Otago Polytechnic was buzzing as learners showed off their games at Ngā Taonga o te Whare Mātoro: Treasures of Whare Matoro. The event provided an opportunity for industry people to meet budding game designers and developers from Design and IT Whare Mātoro games streams and play their games. Four of our third-years were showing everyone their Unity game Duck-Struction. Representatives from PikPok, New Zealand's biggest game development and publishing studio, were also in attendance.

Grayson Orr, Principal Lecturer

NZ Game Developers Conference wrap

Last month, Elise Allen and Woody Woods attended the very worthwhile New Zealand Game Developers Conference 2024 (NZGDC), and it was an amazing event! The three-day conference showed just how far the local game development industry has come, with lots of workshops and talks that left everyone feeling inspired.

Each day offered new ideas, with workshops on everything from game design to technical skills, giving everyone a chance to get hands-on experience. There were also talks from industry leaders who shared their knowledge about current trends and new technologies. The event showed that game development in New Zealand is growing, with a strong focus on creativity, teamwork, and innovation. There were many local game studios and companies like CODE, WETA Workshop, and Epic Games that also attended.

Our team brought back a lot of useful ideas to use at Otago Polytechnic.

Woody Woods, IT Lecturer | Kaiāwhina Tauira Māori