AUT strengthens ties with Chinese alumni
Members of AUT’s influential Chinese alumni community in Auckland joined the alumni team and key staff from the Faculty of Business, Economics and Law (BEL) for an end-of-year lunch at Four Seasons in late November 2018.
The purpose of the event was to start building relationships with key Chinese alumni based in Auckland and connect them into meaningful ways of giving back through internships and closer industry engagement.
This complements AUT’s efforts to keep its sizeable China-based alumni community, who are among the University’s most loyal and passionate advocates, connected to AUT’s reputation and recruitment efforts.
Attendees included Ray Li, head of International Banking at ASB Bank, Wayne Zeng, an MBA graduate and founder of Chancellor Construction, a five-year-old company with an annual turnover of over $20 million, and Shirley Chin, senior interior design consultant and ex-principal at Jasmax, an award-winning architecture firm which designed several AUT buildings including the WZ building.
Many who attended the lunch are already giving back and inspired others to do the same.
Wayne Zeng has employed graduates from the BEL faculty and been a participant in the Shadow a Leader programme for many years. The programme gives Auckland secondary school students and BEL students the opportunity to follow a business leader for a day and understand what it takes to succeed in their field. Wayne loves inspiring the next generation.
“It’s great to see how young people think and look at things with a fresh pair of eyes,” he says.
Shirley Chin now participates annually in the end-of-the-year student critique which provides feedback on spatial design students’ projects. She is passionate about design and is always keen to contribute her views and in return be inspired by the students.
“Jasmax has been taking interns from AUT for many years, and it has been extremely rewarding to be part of the students’ educational journey. We will continue to provide the students with a great internship experience.”
She says a number of AUT graduates are now employed by Jasmax, and there is an immense desire to give back to the University.
Other attendees signed up to guest lecture, and to provide the China Construction Bank offices as a free venue for the next occasion.