Instagram story viewer> @uoaengineering> Posts

UoA Faculty of Engineering and Design

@uoaengineering

6.9K

followers

341

following

Official account for Te Herenga Auaha, the Faculty of Engineering and Design at Waipapa Taumata Rau, the University of Auckland.

POSTS STORIES REELS

Join us for ReDesign's 2026 Graduate Showcase this Friday and Saturday, 6th and 7th November at the Faculty of Engineering at Design. Encounter the future of design at our graduate exhibition, inspiring a new generation of purpose-led designers.

Come along and see our students investigations into a range of social, environmental and political issues. Register through the link in bio! by @uoaengineering

Congratulations to all of our Part IV students who presented their work at the Final Year Project Display Day. The event saw the floors filled with students, staff and visitors exploring an outstanding range of projects.

The day was a fantastic showcase of the creativity, technical skill and hard work our graduating cohort has developed. Thank you to everyone who attended and supported our students. We’re excited to see what they achieve next! by @uoaengineering

Thank you to everyone who joined us last night to launch the Campaign for the Bruce McLaren Centre for High Performance Engineering at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland.

Special thanks to Amanda McLaren, patron of the campaign, and to our fantastic speakers.

We’re at the starting line of a project that will take Bruce’s story from the University report card where it began (“Went motor racing”) to a world-leading home for engineering excellence.

The work starts now and we invite you to join us. bmccampaign.auckland.ac.nz by @uoaengineering

Bruce McLaren's spirit of innovation, ingenuity and leadership is set to continue where it all began. Honouring Bruce’s legacy, the University is building the Bruce McLaren Centre for High Performance Engineering.

The campaign launched in Auckland last night, where guests had a walk-through experience featuring Bruce’s legacy and present-day engineering innovations. They saw renderings of the new centre on a large screen, and listened to a conversation between PhD researcher Olivia Gordon and an AI recreated ‘Bruce’ on a phone call from the past.

The Centre will tackle the world’s most urgent challenges in transportation, healthcare, space, advanced manufacturing and sustainable mobility. It will be built within the University’s Newmarket Innovation campus.

Bruce McLaren studied engineering at the University in the late 1950s, before becoming the youngest winner of a Formula 1 Grand Prix and founding the company that still bears his name.

Read more about the Centre via link in bio 🔗 by @uoaengineering

What actually happens at the end of an engineering degree? 🤔
Before students graduate, they spend their final year working to build, design, & solve a real-world problem. Last week we put some of these engineers in the hot seat 🔥
Stay tuned for Part 2 to explore some more incredible projects!

Ready to design the future? Link in bio to join the Women in Engineering Academy 🤘
#WomenInEngineering #UniversityOfAuckland by @uoaengineering

The University’s 2026 Repair Cafe has prevented 1,822kg of CO2e emissions by repairing broken things - the equivalent to growing about 30 tree seedlings for 10 years*.

Repair Cafe is in its second year and continues to grow the University’s sustainability and community engagement efforts.

Beyond extending the life of household items and reducing waste, co-organiser Dr Matthew Sidford says it also encourages the sharing of practical repair skills and brings people together through a culture of reuse and circular economy thinking.

*Medium growth coniferous or deciduous trees, planted in an urban setting and grown for 10 years.

Image 1 by William Chea. Images 2-8 by SAVS Photography. by @uoaengineering

Why aren't more girls choosing engineering? Two University studies are investigating the factors that shape female students' decisions to pursue engineering, from high school through to university.

Led by Women in Engineering project manager Ashleigh Fox, the research offers a rare insight into the years between a student's first exposure to engineering and their eventual study choices.

The first study found that high university entry requirements, and an unclear path between engineering as a school subject and a career, were among the factors contributing to the drop-off.

The second study found that women who chose engineering were more likely to have strong role models in their lives, including STEM teachers and family members who were engineers

Read more about the findings via link in bio 🔗 by @uoaengineering

When Engineering graduates Sasha Mates and Vincent Wong launched pie-vending machine PieBot in 2023, they were focused on a very specific value proposition.

They wanted to make hot pies available in places where there was demand for food, but not necessarily the foot traffic or trading hours to support a staffed counter.

PieBot has since expanded across Auckland, including a pie vending machine in the Faculty of Engineering and Design, and into other parts of New Zealand 🥧

The company, WM Robotics, has adapted PieBot’s technology to handle chilled and frozen products and is forming partnerships with larger food businesses. Its most recent move is a pilot with My Food Bag, selling the company’s ready-made meals from machines in workplaces, hotels and apartment buildings.

“Vending in New Zealand has always meant chips and chocolate bars. In today’s age, there are people who expect high-quality healthy meals, available whenever they want them,” says Sasha.

Read more by clicking the link in bio! by @uoaengineering

Annisa Hasanah has had her eyes set on two very different finish lines this year, running her first full marathon while completing her PhD in civil engineering.

It's been a continuous journey for Annisa, from degree to degree and now into professional life. Running became one way of learning to live with the motion.

"Both running and doing a PhD taught me that the big milestones are usually built through much smaller, ordinary decisions repeated over time – including carrying on when you just want to give up. That mindset has been really useful in life."

Alongside her research role, Annisa is teaching and supervising students at the University, working with industry on consulting projects, writing papers, developing new research proposals – and attending University choir practice.

Read more of Annisa’s story via link in bio 🔗

Photos 1, 3 & 4 by Chris Loufte by @uoaengineering

When the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021, Maqsood Rezayee made a harrowing escape from Kabul, eventually finding a new home in New Zealand. Now, he's graduating with his PhD in Urban Planning.

New Zealand had been on Maqsood's mind since June 2021, when he'd started his PhD journey at the University of Auckland remotely, under the supervision of Professor Deidre Brown and Dr Elham Bahmanteymouri.

In December 2021, the family landed in Aotearoa. While the escape was over, life was only just starting again, and Maqsood began his research from scratch. His new topic: the city's housing affordability issues, inspired by his family's own search for accommodation after a temporary stay organised by the government.

“To come here to build a life, find a community, study at the leading university, and to manage all these things and be under pressure because of something happening back in Afghanistan, it’s not easy to manage.”

"But having the resilience, I achieved this and I’m proud of it. It's a big year for us."

Read more about Maqsood's journey by clicking the link in bio! by @uoaengineering

The largest of its kind in New Zealand, the Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel can blow at a roaring 18.9 metres per second, or 68 kilometres an hour.

Left: Dr Young-Min Shim
Right: Dr Ahmad Zaki

Ahmad has spent almost a decade here, first as a PhD student researching turbulent flows and, for the past five years, as the senior lab technician, overseeing the Aerodynamics Laboratory.

Lead technologist Dr Young-Min Shim manages the tunnel’s commercial and industrial activity.

These days, he’s helping a pair of fourth-year masters students on exchange from France test an airfoil – a small slice of an airplane wing, scaled down for testing.

To create real-world turbulence, the students testing the airfoil have placed a large flag in the test section.

When the wind picks up, the flag flickers unpredictably, producing the kind of chaotic flow an airfoil might encounter outdoors.

“Turbulence is measurable, but we want it to fluctuate randomly to simulate real-life conditions, because there is randomness in real life.

“The wind tunnel helps us understand that randomness in a controlled way.”

Dr Ahmad Zaki by @uoaengineering

Are you looking to pursue high-impact, hands-on learning experiences beyond the formal curriculum?

The Engineering and Design Co-Curricular Support Fund is a new initiative designed to empower undergraduate students in the Faculty of Engineering and Design. The scheme provides funds, distributed through a competitive application process, to support student groups to undertake non-credit activities aligned with their studies.

Types of eligible activities include:
- Purchase of materials, components and prototyping resources
- Support for student-led technical initiatives and outreach activities
- Travel to attend national or international competitions
- Participation in industry conferences and events

This fund is available to undergraduate students enrolled in a Faculty of Engineering and Design programme. It is open to student clubs, associations, networks as well as informal student groups. The fund value is $5000 max. per application.

Applications must be submitted by Monday 14 September.

Note: Funds must be spent by Sunday 28 February 2027. For any enquiries, contact foed-engagement@auckland.ac.nz.

Apply now by clicking the link in our bio! by @uoaengineering