Careers
Korero mai Māori

Supporting Māori students to become our future engineers.

Launched in 2018, we’ve proud to have created Whanake – a HERA scholarship, in collaboration with Pūhoro STEMM.

Targeted to a Māori student in their first year of a four-year Bachelor of Engineering degree (B.E ., or B.Eng).  The scholarship comprises of an annual scholarship award of $10,000 and help with securing internships, tutoring or counselling if required.

We believe having genuine interactions with young Māori and their unique view on the world is very important for the future of our industry. And, we want to actively extend our industry’s capacity by creating a more diverse and attractive industry that Kiwi’s work with – and for.

 

What is Whanake all about?

Whanake is a te reo Māori verb meaning to:

  • Move onwards or upwards,
  • Grow,
  • Rise up, and
  • Develop.

We think its meaning is apt for this scholarship – and we see this growth and development going both ways. We’ll benefit from co-operating with the successful student in practical ways, and they’ll receive a yearly internship opportunity in return.

 

This will be a partnership

We’ve been thinking for some time on how to improve the attractiveness of our industry to future employees. It’s certainly a complex issue that needs to be approached from many angles. But we firmly believe our Whanake Scholarship is one way that we can work towards a more diverse and appealing industry.

Creation of this scholarship is a first step toward developing a more comprehensive and multi-faceted strategy. And, we see the recipients of this scholarship going on to drive this strategy forward, and of course – become role-models and mentors to other young Māori considering a career in engineering.

How Whanake works

Criteria for eligibility

In order to be eligible for consideration, applicants must:

  • be of New Zealand Māori descent,
  • be enrolled at a New Zealand tertiary institute in the year of application,
  • be attending full-time study for the full year,
  • submit the application and supporting documentation on time,
  • be in their first year of a four-year Bachelor of Engineering degree, and
  • meet the contracted scholarship conditions.

Application process

To apply for the Whanake – HERA Scholarship:

Our application process is managed by Puhoro STEMM, so we suggest keeping an eye on their news platform, or following them on their social media platforms to keep a watch on when scholarships are being offered. Alternatively, you can contact them directly to enquire.

Phone
022 048 0259

Email
info@puhoro.org.nz

Our Whanake recipients

Be inspired by another young Māori in engineering!

Meet Byron Konia, an amazing Māori Hydraulic Engineer at Norman Disney & Young who we interviewed on our podcast Stirring the Pot.

He talks about his journey to choose engineering as a career, how his whanau viewed this choice, his experiences receiving a scholarship and working in industry, and his hopes for the future.