Student Profile
New Zealand’s early adoption of new technologies, together with a motivated, enquiring mind, have helped New Zealand BA and MBA graduate Tom McLennan secure his position as Head of Music – Mobile Internet and Content Services for Vodafone UK.
Tom McLennan’s hectic world is the ever-changing interface between mobiles and music.
As Head of Music – Mobile Internet and Content Services for the second biggest digital download business in the UK - Vodafone UK – Tom’s days are tightly packed. Meetings with major record labels, developing strategies to enhance music delivery platforms, entrepreneurial portal management and extensive European travel all have to be wedged into Tom’s daily routine. Days are long and demanding but Tom thrives on the constant challenges of being at the leading edge of change.
Tom attributes his rise to the forefront of mobile entertainment to being inquisitive, motivated, and continually questioning. He also acknowledges that New Zealand, where he gained his BA and MBA degrees, is well wired into modern technologies. “Our size,” says Tom, “means that we often become test markets for many new technologies. We also become early adopters of these technologies and, from habit, tend to look at ways we can make improvements to the original ideas.”
That desire to continually improve means Tom’s always on the look-out for ways to assist Vodafone top the charts in the digital download business.
Student Profile
Master of Engineering student Travis de Fluiter and fellow students Jing Zhao and Ryan Lovatt are designing and building an efficient commuter car powered by renewable resources and constructed with environmentally friendly materials.
Travis de Fluiter is a Master of Engineering student living a dream. That dream, shared by fellow students Jing Zhao and Ryan Lovatt, is to help design and build an efficient commuter car powered by renewable resources and constructed with environmentally friendly materials.
The hub of the NZeco project is in New Zealand but materials and ideas are drawn from collaborative partners throughout the international engineering world. According to Travis, the difference between NZeco and other similarly targeted projects around the globe is that theirs is a total solution custom-designed from scratch.
The project has been rich in learning. “There’s nothing like hands-on experience to test your knowledge and benefit from your successes and mistakes”, says Travis. “The demands of developing prototypes have taught me a huge amount about automotive engineering. It also helps that our degree is focused on advanced product development and computer-aided engineering. The skills we have developed in New Zealand mean that we can completely design an item on computer and have it constructed anywhere in the world.”
Student Profile
New Zealand’s reputation as a country with world-recognised qualifications and a highly developed pastoral sector led the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in Turkey to select this country for Serkan Ates to undertake his Phd Scholarship.
With ever-expanding population and climatic change, the world is finding it increasingly hard to feed itself. Pasture improvement is one way to make a difference. This is a field Serkan Ates understands and feels passionate about. He has spent the last ten years closely studying animals and what they consume.
Serkan also knows that in terms of maximising learning, reputations are very important. Otherwise he wouldn’t be half a world away from his homeland, Turkey.
It was New Zealand’s reputation as a country with a highly developed pastoral sector and world-recognised qualifications that led the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in Turkey to select this country for Serkan to undertake his Phd Scholarship.
Since coming to New Zealand in 2004, Serkan has been closely involved in research to develop the best grazing management practices for the many varieties of clover found around the world.
In between his busy studies and seminar presentations Serkan’s also found time to meet and marry fellow student Yuana Parisia from Indonesia. Yuana is in New Zealand studying Tourism Management. For both Serkan and Yuana, New Zealand has been a valuable stepping stone to a more rewarding professional and personal life.
Student Profile
Design student Elina Parins gets expert personal tuition from multiple Oscar-winning prosthetic make-up and visual effects artist, Sean Foot.
One sure way to improve your skills is to learn first-hand from the experts.
For students like Elina Parins, who is studying make-up design in New Zealand, that means being able to have direct access to and personal tuition from highly skilled and knowledgeable teachers such as Sean Foot.
Sean is a world-renowned prosthetic make-up artist who has been involved in numerous feature films, including the multiple Oscar winning ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy where he conceived the hairy hobbit feet and simultaneously handled the make-up for 175 different characters. Sean’s creativity and attention to detail have earned him Oscar and Bafta awards for the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy and ‘The Chronicles of Narnia – the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’.
“It’s fantastic having someone of Sean’s calibre involved in teaching us,” says Elina. “Where I was studying in the UK, no-one had this level of experience, and the difference is enormous. Sean knows the right techniques and the pitfalls from hard-won experience. He’s very detailed but he’s also inspirational and you can’t ask for more than that in a teacher.”
Student Profile
Matt Harris enjoys the best of both worlds. When he’s not at university studying his favourite subject, Outdoor Recreational Leadership, he’s teaching people of all ages and abilities rock-climbing, white water kayaking or mountain biking in New Zealand’s outstanding natural terrain.
Matt Harris lives and breathes the big outdoors. He’s also learning a lot about what he loves best – outdoor adventure sport and sharing that appreciation with others.
At university, Matt is studying Outdoor Recreational Leadership. Once he’s graduated, he intends to put his theoretical and practical skills to good use safely teaching others the thrills of outdoor sport.
Already, he’s assisting teaching people of all ages and abilities rock-climbing, white water kayaking and mountain biking in New Zealand’s outstanding natural terrain. His clients come in all shapes and sizes, from high school groups, special-needs children, ‘kids at risk’ and women’s groups to a special programme for the elderly known as ‘GOLD’ (Getting Old Living Dangerously).
“It’s amazing what these people get from their experiences”, says Matt. “Along with a strong sense of adventure, they learn teamwork, trust and confidence and they often make a bunch of new friends. It’s personally rewarding for them and also for me, as their trainer.”
Matt is already a New Zealand representative mountain biker; no mean feat in a country where 17% of the population own a mountain bike. But he’s not satisfied with that. He wants to master every type of outdoor pursuit training, whether it’s on white water, snow, deep in the bush or high up a mountain rock face.
Student Profile
Italian student Francesca Corti came to a New Zealand school to improve her English and, in the process, found new friendships and became part of a whole new host family.
Ever since she did a school project on New Zealand when she was in elementary school near Milan, Francesca Corti had dreamt of coming to New Zealand.
Researching is one thing. But coming half way around the world, away from friends and family, to attend a new school and to stay with people you’ve never met can seem a daunting prospect. When the time came for 18 year old Francesca to finally leave for New Zealand she admits she felt quite nervous. “I had so many questions going through my mind,” says Francesca “What if the family I stay with are really strange ? Will they like me and understand me?
As it turned out she needn’t have worried. “After a few months I already feel part of the family,” says Francesca, “They are very nice to me and I really enjoy doing things together with the whole family or just with Christina and Michael.”
When she’s not at school, polishing her English, Francesca has been able to enjoy her favourite sports – going for long horse rides in the countryside and watching motor-bike racing. She’s also just taken up tennis lessons for the first time. “I’ve learned so much in a very short time and I’ve made many good friends,” says Francesca. “These are experiences I will never forget.”
Student Profile
Mexican Communications and Media student Sonia Martinez enjoys the combination of New Zealand’s natural beauty and the opportunity to share with new friends New Zealand’s lively café, restaurant, bar and live music scene.
Sonia Martinez’ vibrant personality and enquiring mind make her an ideal Communications and Media degree student and a fun person to be with.
When Sonia, from Mexico, was looking for somewhere to extend her knowledge of cultures, she was drawn to New Zealand’s own brand of natural beauty and open spaces. This, she believed, would make a refreshing change from the industrial bustle of her home city, Monterrey.
However, with New Zealand’s total population of four million not much bigger than Monterrey, Sonia didn’t expect to find a particularly lively entertainment scene. “That was a very nice surprise,” says Sonia. “I came here expecting to be able to get close to nature and I’ve been having a wonderful time exploring the South Island mountains, walking through the New Zealand native bush and enjoying long picnics at the beach.”
“But what is also great is the opportunity to go out with the many new friends that I have made here and enjoy the nightlife – the cafés, the restaurants, the live music and bars. I like the idea of being able to make my own fun most of the time but to also be able to go out sometimes and be entertained and enjoy really good food from New Zealand and from many other parts of the world.”