MEDIA RELEASE
1 December 2006
Kiwi Manager * the evolving student project
A new piece of software that can detect computer network faults is being given away to schools, thanks to the ingenuity
and hard work of several Wellington Institute of Technology (WelTec) degree and software engineering students.
WelTec Information Technology Team Leader, Ian Hunter, "says that similar packages that are available commercially can
cost up to $10,000.
"Kiwi Manager can keep an eye on the common network issues that cause about 90% of problems; things like overloading and
loss of connection." says Ian. "It will then signal the severity of the problem, so any issues that are indicated can be
quickly rectified."
A demonstration at the recent U-Learn Education Conference in Christchurch aroused interest from schools around the
country who will receive free copies of the software.
Ian says that the simple network health check was a project suggested by networking equipment manufacturer Allied
Telesis. Kiwi Manager was developed over several years by generations of WelTec students working with Allied Telesis.
It was finally prepared for release by Diploma in Software Engineering student Bo Li, working with WelTec's Centre for
Smart Product and Allied Telesis. Bo not only gained straight A grades for his study and received an award for top
student, but was also awarded a prize for top project of the year for Kiwi Manager.
"Working on Kiwi Manager gave me the chance to put my knowledge into practice and more importantly delve much deeper
into the networking and programming world," says Bo.
Bo has gone on to secure a job with Allied Telesis as a network engineer. He says his work on Kiwi Manager definitely
gave him a foot in the door.
ENDS