Northpower offers summer internship for Whangārei students

Northpower's summer interns, Whangārei students Jeremy Towers, left, and Macey Polwart.

A powerhouse Northland company has started a 20-week summer student intern programme to nurture home-grown university talent.

Northpower Limited has set up two intern positions for engineering and environmental students. Macey Polwart, from Tamaterau, and Jeremy Towers, from Mairtown, are joining the company for summer.

The pair will get to work alongside Northpower engineering and environmental teams, working on real issues and getting into the community.

Both are excited about gaining work experience with a locally owned company which has strong community ties.

''Everyone knows someone who knows someone at Northpower,'' Towers said.

Polwart is studying a Bachelor of Science majoring in geology at Canterbury University and Towers is undertaking a Bachelor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Auckland University.

The students will work alongside Northpower staff during the summer and will be exposed to many aspects of Northpower's diverse business.

They will be given specific projects like power system modelling, environmental monitoring and data collation to support the management of Northpower's line networks.

Basic engineering design under supervision will also be in the mix.

Marina Hetaraka, Northpower network environmental and consents manager, a mentor for the students and who hails from Kaipara, said investing in local talent would help create future leaders.

"We believe in investing in New Zealand's future talent to give them experience alongside our experienced team of engineering, asset managers and health, safety, quality and environment expert professionals,'' Hetaraka said.

Network engineering manager Russell Watson said the way consumers were using energy was changing.

"This is an exciting time to be joining Northpower to learn from our team as we plan for our region's growth, the influx of new technologies - including electric vehicles, solar and batteries - and the supporting investment in our networks.

"Part of that investment is helping our next generation of talent to consider a career in the electricity distribution and energy sector."

Those interested in future opportunities can subscribe to Northpower's career's page for notification of when applications are being taken for the 2019/2020 summer.

* Northland businesses come in all shapes and sizes. If you have a business story to share, please contact Lindy Laird, phone 09470 2801, or email lindy.laird@northernadvocate.co.nz.