Travis de Fluiter

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.”