In the decade since University of Auckland alumna Karla Mangos graduated from university she has roamed the globe gaining experience, holding roles in Denmark, the Netherlands, London and New Zealand. When asked to summarise her wisdom for current students her advice is to take every opportunity to learn, but to also make room for fun.

Business School alumnus William Lockie has turned his passion for food into a fruitful career as General Manager of Woop, New Zealand’s fastest growing food business. Under his leadership, Woop has had massive revenue growth, been consistently named in Deloitte’s Fast 50 and have evolved their operations to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Wellington native Maina Fuimaono arrived at the University of Auckland never having heard of innovation and entrepreneurship. Now, the final year Bachelor of Commerce student advocates for it to be a part of every student’s university experience.

Dozens of Māori and Pacific students have had the opportunity to adjust to life at university through participation in summer programme UniBound. As part of their experience, many of the students participated in two days of workshops at Unleash Space, the University of Auckland’s innovation hub and maker space.

University of Auckland alumna Ipshita Mandal-Johnson is the CEO of the Global Bio Fund, an impact fund with a world-leading approach to growing diverse entrepreneurs (especially women-led companies) addressing global challenges.

168 of New Zealand’s top secondary school science students explored their innovative and creative potential at Unleash Space, the University of Auckland’s innovation hub and maker space run by the Business School’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The students were participants of the 32nd Rotary National Science and Technology Forum.

A project that asks students of sustainability to develop an educational game has been developed as an engaging and innovative way to help students apply their learning. Students work in teams to design a game that teaches some aspect of sustainability to a chosen population.

Biological Sciences Honours student Gyoungsu Lee is using rapid prototyping technology to create a modern version of the traditional hurdy-gurdy, a stringed instrument originating from Europe and the Middle East.

An innovative online competition called ‘What’s Your Billion Dollar Idea?’ has provided Indian students with an opportunity to pitch their ideas to VCs and CEOs for the chance to win a virtual internship with top New Zealand companies and universities. The ultimate winner was Joel Joseph, a mechanical engineering and marketing student.

Teaching staff at the University of Auckland’s Business School have explored ways to incorporate virtual reality into their teaching, drawn to its potential for creating engaging and immersive teaching and learning experiences. They used the virtual reality game Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes to teach human resources principles.