New Engineering School for Wellington
A new dedicated Engineering School was announced today at the Wellington Institute of Technology’s Petone campus. The
new revitalised space will see over 200 students and staff housed on the one site.
Wellington Institute of Technology’s School of Engineering is the only Engineering School in the Wellington region to
provide Civil, Mechanical and Electrical Majors in the very applied Bachelor of Engineering Technology and the New
Zealand Diploma in Engineering.
“Graduates of the School of Engineering have achieved widespread recognition including beating out University PhD
candidates to win national awards including the IPENZ Ray Meyer medal for Excellence in Student Design for both 2013 and
2014. It is now time that WelTec’s facilities are upgraded to match the excellence our students are achieving,” said
Michael Kerr Beca Regional Manager and Chair of the Engineering Advisory Committee at the Wellington Institute of
Technology.
“The School of Engineering will be a place where employers, the wider engineering industry and secondary schools can
interact with WelTec’s engineering staff and students. Our vision for the School is to see the engineering community
participating in events, robotics competitions and Open Days at the modernised Engineering School.
“The School will help us to promote engineering as an excellent career choice for young people. Increasing the pipeline
of people studying engineering is critical to meet the current skills shortage for people with an applied engineering
qualification, said Michael Kerr.
“The Wellington Institute of Technology is investing $3M into the major revamp of the School of Engineering which will
see a complete redesign and construction of a new internal layout and which will have strong visual appeal. Modern
learning spaces for project-based learning and a more interactive learning environment for students to facilitate
greater collaboration and sharing of ideas amongst students and tutors will be incorporated into the new design which is
being led by Designgroup New Zealand,” said Linda Sissons Chief Executive Wellington Institute of Technology.
“Engineers are needed to help our economy grow and to deliver the major infrastructure projects around the country and
especially in the region, like the MacKays to Peka Peka and Transmission Gully projects. Our engineering graduates are
snapped up by employers demonstrating the strong demand for people with an applied engineering qualification. The new
School of Engineering will mean our facilities will match the expectations of students, industry and staff for a modern
learning environment and we are very excited to get this major revamp underway,” said Linda Sissons.
ENDS