Students unveil new technologies and business solutions
Innovations to be revealed at Otago Polytechnic’s College of Enterprise and Development Showcase
An app that allows Trademe users to buy and sell business services, and an electrocardiography simulator used in the
training of veterinarians, are just two of the student innovations that will be on show at Otago Polytechnic’s 2014
College of Enterprise and Development Showcase – part of the end-of-year Student Showcase ‘Excite’.
The Showcase will be held on Thursday 13 November at Gallery 1877 at Otago Museum, featuring more than 30 industry
projects undertaken by students of the Bachelor of Information Technology, Bachelor of Applied Management and Graduate
Diploma in Applied Management.
“Our students solve real business problems for real clients in innovative and creative ways, harnessing the latest
technological advancements,” says Information Technology Professor Samuel Mann. “This Showcase celebrates their
extraordinary achievements.”
The interactive exhibition will showcase a variety of IT projects, including Vetech, an electrocardiography (ECG)
simulator to be used by trainee vets. “It displays the heart rhythms of various virtual animals, with options for
different health conditions and states of activity and rest,” explains Matthew Gordon, who created the technology with
fellow IT students Stacy Bateman and Brenton Duncan. “This removes the headache of trying to source live animals with
various complaints to study.”
When Taieri Gorge Railway wanted a way of offering its passengers the choice of pre-recorded commentaries in various
languages, in addition to the live commentary it provides in English, it turned to Otago Polytechnic IT students. The
Train to the Future project involved installing WiFi on the train to allow passengers to use their own devices to access
commentaries in their preferred languages, a system devised by Ben Van Der Loo and Adam Dackers. The technology could be
adapted for different uses in the future, such as enabling passengers to order food or book other tourism activities
from their seats.
The fruits of Business students’ internships and industry projects will also be on show. Bachelor of Applied Management
student Megan Donald undertook a 400-hour internship at Cadbury, part of which involved assessing the economic and
tourism impacts of the annual Dunedin Cadbury Chocolate Carnival. Her work shows the economic impact of the event
continues to increase steadily and there has been corresponding growth in attendance figures – with 34% of attendees
coming from outside Dunedin.
Undertaking her industry project with Olveston is Graduate Diploma in Applied Management student, Inez Ariestiani. As
the top-ranked New Zealand attraction on the TripAdvisor website, Olveston has little problem attracting international
visitors, but Inez’s research has found that 40% of Dunedinites have never been to the historic home. She is now in the
process of identifying strategies to increase the number of local visitors to Olveston, including the use of social
media marketing.
“These industry partnerships help our students gain a real sense of the working world,” says Principal Lecturer and
Business Internship Coordinator, Rachel Byars. “They gain valuable skills and work experience, and several of our
students have already secured permanent employment with their industry partners.”
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