Employment Minister Steven Joyce and Transport Minister Simon Bridges have congratulated students from Rutherford College and Green Bay High School for winning the Waterview Connection Schools Challenge.
Over the past three months, more than 2500 Auckland Year 10 students have been learning about engineering careers by taking part in the challenge about the Waterview Connection.
Today 45 of those students from 15 schools gathered to assemble a scale model of a section of the Waterview Tunnel and to solve engineering puzzles.
Before the event, schools took part in activities including presentations by engineers through the Futureintech Ambassador programme, a Waterview virtual field trip, and visits to engineering departments across five tertiary providers and workplaces.
“The Waterview Connection: A Learning Pathways Challenge” programme is a cross-agency initiative sponsored by the Ministry of Education and the Tertiary Education Commission
It was supported by the New Zealand Transport Agency and the Well-Connected Alliance, which is constructing the Waterview Connection. It aims to support students when they are considering subject selection post-secondary school.
“I am truly impressed by the skill levels these students demonstrated. It’s encouraging to see schools, students, industry and tertiary all working together on this programme,” says Joyce.
These are the types of opportunities that provide an ideal context for learning and decision making about career pathways. I hope that these students have been – and will continue to be – motivated by this experience,” he says.
“In 2015 the Government committed $11.4 million to increase the number of engineering graduates, including $5.2 million for more places, and funding for activities to raise the profile of engineering,” says Joyce.
Bridges says engineers make an important contribution to New Zealand’s future.
“Engineering is an exciting industry that allows us to compete on the world stage. The challenge is that we need to be producing significantly more engineers to meet industry demand today and in the future,” he says.
Rutherford College won the tunnel building challenge while Green Bay High School won the challenge to create a power point or video.
The winners of the Tunnel Building Challenge won a SkyWalk around the Auckland Sky Tower, a Harbour Bridge walk and a piece of the tunnel boring Machine Alice’s tooth.
The school that won the presentation received a $3000 technology grant and also a piece of Alice’s tooth.
