ON: futures in tech was TechWeek’s biggest event for student entrepreneurs. Three finalists went head-to-head pitching their venture idea on stage in front of a crowd and a panel of global change makers, with the winners awarded a prize pack valued at over $50,000. This year’s winners were Prosthet-X, comprising of University of Auckland engineering students Connor Talbot (electrical engineering) and Sebastian Weaver (mechanical engineering).

Zak Devey has had an amazing journey from a scholarship psychology and sociology student to co-founder of Youth Arts New Zealand, and is now making his mark at a national level.

Zenno Astronautics is a space flight systems company founded by three students of the University of Auckland. With the help of the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship they have successfully managed to go from idea to investment. Zenno is developing space exploration software as well as propulsion systems for small satellites – CUBESATS – which would extend their time in orbit and allow them to work cohesively in formation. They aim to not only eliminate space debris, but also to develop the commercial viability of the space market overall.

For the past few months, the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s Unleash Space has been fortunate to be the temporary home of visiting professor Dr Claude Laguë, former Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Ottawa in Canada and a passionate advocate of entrepreneurship and innovation.

An international search for a Hynds Entrepreneurial Fellow has now finished, and the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship is delighted to announce the appointment of Peter Rachor.
The newly established Hynds Entrepreneurial Fellows Programme aims to embed innovation and entrepreneurship into the curricula across the University of Auckland by working with and supporting academics from all faculties and disciplines. To achieve this, a Community of Practice is to be established, led by Peter - the Hynds Entrepreneurial Fellow Learning Designer.

While some may be content with products offered on the market, when students like Kevin Lee can’t find what they’re looking for – they design their own.

When Nazia, a recent postgraduate student at the University of Auckland, signed up for Solve It she couldn’t have imagined it would lead to her getting her dream job interning at the Auckland District Health Board (ADHB). Solve It is a corporate innovation challenge, run by the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, where students form teams to solve challenging business problems for New Zealand organisations.

Arduino is an open-source electronic prototyping platform based on flexible, easy to use hardware and software. It is intended for tinkerers and hobbyists that are interested in creating interactive objects or environments.

“Better the balance, better the world” is the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day and it is certainly difficult to disagree with this liberal feminist mantra and #BalanceforBetter.

However, as a critical scholar in the field of women’s entrepreneurship I suggest that ‘balance’ or levelling the playing field is one strategy but it is only a small feat in comparison to changing structural gender inequalities and persistent biases that often remain, even when/if societies do reach gender parity in politics, pay, prestigious job occupations and other societal ‘places’ where masculinity has dominated.

One year on from the official opening of Unleash Space, the University of Auckland’s new innovation hub is thriving. Unleash Space is providing a supportive and fun environment where anyone can create what they imagine, design for today and prototype for tomorrow. We’ve had a staggering 1,380 students and staff join as members of this state-of-the-art maker space and we’re not stopping there. At the helm of this fast-paced innovation hub is Jared Goffe, Unleash Space CEO for 2019, who is in charge of leading the student team of Unleashers.