AUT STEM Camp 2024

This five-day, four-night ‘camp’ is designed to empower Year 13 Māori and Pacific students through science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) and grow a generation of leading STEM professionals.

Our STEM Camp programme is fully funded (free) and includes accommodation, food, and travel*. Get a taste of the AUT university experience, collaborating with academic staff and current students on real-world issues, finding real-world solutions.

*Travel included only for students based outside of Auckland.

Applications are now open for the AUT Māori and Pacific STEM Camp. You can apply by clicking the button below.

Application form

What will you get to do at the camp?

  • Attend STEM-related workshops
  • Stay at the Te Āhuru Mayoral Drive Student Accommodation across from AUT's City Campus in Auckland for 4 nights and get a taste of university life
  • Learn leadership and personal development skills
  • Collaborate with likeminded people in small groups
  • Meet other future students of AUT
  • Try out something new and explore your potential

Event details

Date: Monday 2 December to Friday 6 December 2024
Location: corner of Mayoral Drive and Wakefield St, Auckland CBD

You can also apply for a scholarship to support your future studies at AUT

Learn more about the study areas within the camp

Engineering

Engineering is about finding solutions to key issues we face today, like access to clean water, sustainable energy systems, waste management, recycling, and environmental pressures. A lot of people think engineering is all about working with machines, but it’s so much more! Engineers at their core are problem solvers, tackling the world’s problems, big and small. If it wasn’t for engineers we wouldn’t have iPhones, TikTok, and even electric cars.

Computer and mathematical sciences

Computer and mathematical sciences are part of almost everything in the modern world whether it is something as simple as ordering a pizza, or as complicated as brain surgery. This area involves creating effective ways to solve problems using computer technologies. From games to mobile apps and web programming, you can do it all in computing and mathematical sciences.

Sessions you attend

Engineering Session

This is a practical hands-on engineering session. From early human history we have built sailing vessels to travel across vast oceans and gathered and harvested resources from the sea. Using hand-craft material you'll construct a hull, out-riggers, sails, boom, mast, rudder, keel, centreboard and any other components to build the fastest sailing boat catamaran running on wind power.

Computing Science Session

Get a first-hand taste of creating basic software and logic programs, providing a foundational understanding of various programming languages. Mastering these rudimentary programming skills can unlock numerous opportunities in virtually any industry, as it not only boosts problem-solving abilities but also enhances digital literacy, thereby empowering our future workforce in an increasingly technology-driven world.

BECA Visit

Beca is one of Asia Pacific’s largest independent advisory, design and engineering consultancies. After a century of operation, we have grown from a family-owned business to one of the most progressive, client-centric professional services consultancies in our region. We have more than 4,000 employees in 25 offices around the world and have delivered projects in more than 70 countries.

Environmental science

Do you love nature and the outdoors? Are you interested in making a positive difference for our planet? Learn from experts in environmental science and see how you can change the world by making people’s lives safer, healthier and even more exciting.

Sport and exercise science

Are you interested in improving sports performance? Sport and exercise science is based on anatomy, biomechanics, nutrition and physiology, fitness assessment and exercise prescription. AUT is ranked as one of NZ’s top universities for sport and exercise science research, and you can go on to a range of exciting careers and advance sporting performance for communities or high-performance athletes in both New Zealand and worldwide.

Sessions you attend

Ngāti Whātua Living Lab Field Trip

The Living Laboratories Project is an experiment investigating how to best grow back native forest on farmland. To answer this we monitor tree growth, biodiversity and environmental indicators. On this field trip you'll collect data that will contribute to this research project. The site is located at Pourewa on Ngāti Whātua Orākei land in Ōrākei, Auckland.

AUT Millenium Field Trip

Do you live and breathe sport and see yourself one day working in the sporting industry? Come to AUT Millennium, the official NZ Olympic training centre, and see where high-performance athletes are tested and trained. At the AUT Sports Performance Research Institute of New Zealand laboratories you'll learn and experience the different types of cutting-edge sport technology that we use in our biomechanics, exercise physiology and strength and conditioning labs. This full-day field trip is both informative and interactive so be prepared to sweat!

Wētā Workshop

Wētā Workshop Unleashed invites visitors of all ages into a fantastical film effects facility, inspired and built by Wellington’s award-winning design and effects company, Wētā Workshop. Inside Unleashed, extraordinary worlds blur the line between fantasy and reality.

AUT Poipoia te kākano kia puawai: Māori and Pacific STEM Scholarship

This Māori and Pacific STEM Scholarship is specific for those who attend the 2024 STEM camp and have applied to a Bachelor of Engineering, Computer and Information Sciences, Science, or Sport and Recreation. There are 16 scholarships available for 2024, with more details to come, including how to apply.

Scholarship opens: Available soon
Closing date: Sunday 8 December 2024

Value of scholarship

Up to $41,000 (across four years):

  • Year 1 - Full fees, student levy. Plus, up to $2,000 stipend (programme dependent)
  • Year 2 - Full fees, student levy. Plus, up to $2,000 stipend (programme dependent)
  • Year 3 - Full fees (if a four-year programme; fees-free applies in a three-year programme). Up to a $4,000 stipend (programme dependent)
  • Year 4 (if applicable) - Up to $4,000 stipend (programme dependent)

Eligibility criteria

  • Awarded to those who attended Poipoia te kākano kia puawai STEM Camp 2024
  • Māori or Pacific ethnicity in the AUT student management system (Arion)
  • A minimum rank score of 220
  • Submit a personal statement explaining the reasons why you want to attend AUT, the academic goals you hope to achieve, any career aspirations you have, and why you believe you should be awarded this scholarship.

Check out our 2022 camp

Participants around a table of equipment
Participants around a pool
Group presentation
Group with paddles
Group hike
Great graduatesRahiri MaihiNgāpuhi, Ngati Awa, Tuhoe4th-year student, Bachelor of Engineering Technology in Mechanical Engineering“When I started my course, I quickly learned it was nothing like I expected. But something that was mentioned in a lot of my courses was how often engineers help out communities and people. Being someone who is Māori, brown, male and from South Auckland, something that drove me to carry on this course were the possibilities to not only help support my own family but the home and community I love most.”“When I started my course, I quickly learned it was nothing like I expected. But something that was mentioned in a lot of my courses was how often engineers help out communities and people. Being someone who is Māori, brown, male and from South Auckland, something that drove me to carry on this course were the possibilities to not only help support my own family but the home and community I love most.”
Great graduatesPia Kahui-McConnellNgāti Maniapoto me Ngāti Porou/Ou te sau mai Magia, Upolu3rd-year student, Bachelor of Science in Applied ConservationPia’s career aspirations include working alongside indigenous communities to create positive change for the environment, oceans, animals and people. Last year, alongside 2 other Māori STEM students, Pia supported the camp by sharing her authentic experience as a Māori and Samoan woman in STEM, providing unique insight for likeminded Māori and Pacific rangatahi (youth) to make conscious decisions about tertiary education. Pia has a background in zero waste education, working alongside Māori and Pacific communities who want to create positive environmental change for their whānau (family).Pia’s career aspirations include working alongside indigenous communities to create positive change for the environment, oceans, animals and people. Last year, alongside 2 other Māori STEM students, Pia supported the camp by sharing her authentic experience as a Māori and Samoan woman in STEM, providing unique insight for likeminded Māori and Pacific rangatahi (youth) to make conscious decisions about tertiary education. Pia has a background in zero waste education, working alongside Māori and Pacific communities who want to create positive environmental change for their whānau (family).
Great graduatesYeran EdmondsNgāpuhi & Tūwharetoa2nd-year student, Bachelor of Computer and Information Sciences in Software Development“I always found myself drawn to tech and came back to uni to pursue higher learning. I find it exciting to solve problems with new technology. I get to work in front of a computer all day instead of physical labour, and I get to help my family with tech projects.”“I always found myself drawn to tech and came back to uni to pursue higher learning. I find it exciting to solve problems with new technology. I get to work in front of a computer all day instead of physical labour, and I get to help my family with tech projects.”
Great graduatesHeather ReedHauoraCo-Founder, Knoxfit - Bachelor of Sport and Recreation in Sport and Exercise Science and Nutrition“He aha te mea nui o tea o? He tangata! He tangata! Connections are everything! The more you put yourself out there, the more opportunities will come your way. They often come from the most unlikely of places and people, so try to always be open, approachable and supportive of those around you.”“He aha te mea nui o tea o? He tangata! He tangata! Connections are everything! The more you put yourself out there, the more opportunities will come your way. They often come from the most unlikely of places and people, so try to always be open, approachable and supportive of those around you.”

Contact us

For more information, feel free to email our team at future@aut.ac.nz.

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