Power to pupils as Clendon Park School students win Engineering NZ Wonder Project challenge

Watercare engineer Lukan Paitai-Tuiatua with some of the Clendon Park School students he mentored for the Power Challenge. Photo / RNZ / Ruth Hill

A primary school competition to design and build wind turbines is generating an interest in engineering careers among members of the next generation.

This year’s Wonder Project Power Challenge was won by Clendon Park School’s Tautua mo Tupulaga Samoan language unit.

Their mentor, Watercare engineer Lukan Paitai-Tuiatua, who was himself born and raised in South Auckland, said he jumped at the chance to take part.

“I know from growing up there that they don’t always have the same opportunities as [children] in other areas.

“A lot of the kids I grew up with all just ... tried to make it in sports. So it was a good chance for me to go back and say, ‘There’s more that you can do than just sports’.

“The opportunities are there, but a lot of them didn’t actually know about them.”

The Power Challenge - developed in association with Transpower - is part of The Wonder Project, Engineering New Zealand’s free school programme.

In the competition, ākonga [students] design and build a wind turbine to light up a “mini-town” in the form of a circuit board.

Paitai-Tuiatua said the Clendon Park students were intrigued to hear about his work on Watercare’s Central Interceptor project - the massive 15km-long wastewater tunnel between Māngere and Grey Lynn, designed to clean up Auckland’s waterways.

“There are some really bright kids out there who just need some guidance to help them realise their potential - and this project highlighted that.

“I hope they take every opportunity put in front of them and have confidence that they can do some amazing things.”

Over 100,000 students have been involved in the Wonder Project and its predecessor, Futureintech, since it began in 2005.

This year, 1231 classrooms signed up for the Wonder Project. Nearly half the students - 49 per cent - were girls and more than 31 percent were Māori or Pasifika.

The project has three separate programmes, which are aligned to the New Zealand Curriculum: the Rocket Challenge for Years 5-6, the Power Challenge for Year 7-8 and Stem (science, technology, engineering and maths) careers for Years 7-13.

According to Engineering New Zealand, half the students who took part later reported an interest in pursuing Stem careers.

However, next year the project will lose its main funding source, after Callaghan Innovation (which is funded through the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment) decided to stop investment in Stem promotion.