Rotorua rangatahi were elated to be on campus for our inaugural Robotics workshop. PTC has been fortunate to run these workshops with Professor Hin from the School of Engineering since 2018. Engaging more Maori and Pasifika in Engineering ensures that we widen the base of skilled workers to reflect all of New Zealand.

Dr Lim (Senior Lecturer in Mechatronics and Mechanical Engineering at UoW and Chair of NZ Robotics Automation and Sensing) is a strong advocate that agritech is critical to solving challenges facing our agriculture sector. In 2021, the University of Waikato entered three of its horticultural robots for the 2021 Fieldays Innovation Awards. The robotics included: a robotic asparagus harvester, a kiwifruit orchard survey robot and an autonomous grape vine pruner.

Youth were hard at work enjoying the diverse set of tasks set for them. They also had the opportunity to tour the campus and meet the Student Success Coordinator for the School of Engineering as well as some of their ambassadors.

The PTC workshop was also featured in the School of Engineering newsletter for June.

Much appreciation for the UoW team and the opportunity afforded to our youth.