Tech Hui 07 Report

On 23rd May 2007, the Wellington College Tech Crew hosted the Regional Tech Support Hui for the second year running. Students from over 20 schools attended and were given the opportunity to give presentations to their peers.

The keynote speaker of the Hui was Mr Bill Day, CEO of Seaworks Ltd. Mr Day delivered an inspirational speech on how to find the drive to do what you want to do and enjoy it at the same time.

Other Speakers Included:

• Former Tech Angels, Rachel Hydes and Kelly Cheeseman who spoke about the courses they are attending at university. Both are studying towards a Bachelor of Design at Massey University and Victoria University, respectively. These two outstanding young women were able to provide insight into their courses at the two Wellington Universities.

• Mr. Martin Langhoff, a programmer at Catalyst IT spoke at length about the world of Open Source programming. Martin has worked in multiple projects associated with education including working with Moodle and cheap laptops for third world countries.

• Sidhe Interactive, New Zealand’s most successful gaming company, kindly allowed us to have some time with Jeremy Burgess who is a part of their coding team. Jeremy took the audience on a tour of positions available in the computer gaming employment market and what one could expect on finding a job there, apparently a difficult thing to do.

• The audience was also enlightened with humour from Kyle and Dylan who described how technology has improved learning for those with visual impairment.

We would like to thank the speakers, and everyone who attended the Tech Hui in 2007. We hope you left the Hui as inspired and motivated as us. We look forward to seeing you in 2008.

Tech Hui Speakers 2007

• Mr. Bill Day

Bill Day is the Managing Director of Seaworks Ltd, a specialised marine company. He took Seaworks from a startup comapany to a small multi-national company. Seaworks lays underwater cables, runs underwater robots and works in the offshore Oil & Gas industry. In addition, Seaworks also does the marine management for movies by both Stephen Spielberg and Peter Jackson.

Bill has a BA, LLB and MBA as well as a host of professional qualifications. He was awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the year in 2000 .

• Mr. Martin Langhoff

Martin Langhoff works at Catalyst IT, a Moodle Partner which develops and customises Moodle for tertiary institutions in New Zealand. He is also the maintainer of the Stable branch of Moodle. He also works on several other projects, including Elgg, EPrints and Linus Torvald's GIT.

He also has a lot of experience deploying Moodle and other systems in the enterprise and government sector.

• Rachel Hydes

Rachel Hydes is a former Tech Angel at Wellington Girls’ College in 2004. She is now a 3rd year student at Massey University, undertaking a Bachelor of Design and majoring in Visual Communications which involves creating complex 3-D models such as avatars.

• Kelly Cheeseman

Kelly Cheeseman is also a former Tech Angel at Wellington Girls’ College in 2004. She is now a 3rd year student studying towards a Bachelor of Design degree, majoring in Digital Media at Victoria University in Wellington. Her focus is on experimental and technical design that includes subjects such as online communities, virtual reality and game theory design.

• Jeremy Burgess

Jeremy Burgess currently works as a programmer for Sidhe Interactive, New Zealand’s most successful gaming company. Sidhe Interactive's portfolio includes games such as GripShift, Jackass: The Game, Speed Racer, Frankie Dettori Racing, Rugby League 1 as well as Rugby League 2 for Xbox360, Playstation 2 and PCs.

Tech Hui '06 Speakers

The speakers for the 2006 Wellington College Tech Hui are ...

David Baldwin

David Baldwin was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Contact Energy in May 2006. Prior to joining Contact, he was based in Asia and the US overseeing the energy asset interests of a US-based investment fund. Before that, David held senior roles in Asia and the US with MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, a US-based global energy company, and Shell in New Zealand and the Netherlands. David holds a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical).


Cherrie Kong

In May this year, Cherrie was invited to speak at the World Congress on Information Technology in Austin, Texas. Along with three other youth in a panel hosted by Don Tapscott, Cherrie discussed the impact of technology on the lifestyles and thought processes of youth today. The main message to the audience (mainly CEOs and decision-makers) was that the net-generation is very different from any preceding generation as consumers, learners and employees, meaning that business, education and management must also adapt to ensure they are catering to their needs.

Prior to this, Cherrie has had many speaking engagements at various events in New Zealand and internationally, from her first presentation at the Telecommunications Users Association of New Zealand (TUANZ) Rocking Ahead with Fast Internet conference in Wellington (2003) to the National Education and Computing Conference in Philadelphia and the Microsoft School of the Future World Summit in Seattle (both 2005). All such engagements have focused on the effective use of technology (in particular information and communications technologies, ICTs) to engage and enable youth, with an enormous focus on access, community and education.

In 2003, Cherrie was heavily involved with the implementation and management of a programme called the Tech Angels at Wellington Girls’ College. Cherrie sought to tap into the knowledge and enthusiasm of students to upskill and inspire college staff in use of ICTs in the classroom. Essentially a mentorship programme where students teach teachers in one-on-one and seminar environments, the Tech Angels fill a gap in the system where teachers have the equipment they need, but not the know-how to use them effectively in their life, workplace or classroom. These students also contribute to the community through volunteer work and also share their acquired knowledge with other students. The Tech Angels are ongoing to this day, boasting approximately 80 students (compared to 15 in 2003!), with the programme being taken on board by many other schools around the country (under various aliases).

Through the Tech Angels, Cherrie has gained experience in organizing conferences, interacting with and representing youth. For this involvement (and others), Cherrie received the Service to the College award and was also Dux/Gold Medallist for that year.

Neil Melhuish

Profile to come.