Unison recognises young talent with engineering scholarships worth $65,000

Unison Networks has awarded two school leavers, one first year and one second year university student with a scholarship that will pay for their fees while studying Electrical Engineering at the University of Canterbury.

Mitchell Graham, Michael Hackney, John Kleinjan and Ashley Stewart received the scholarship from Unison General Manager Networks and Operations Jaun Park.

Both Mitchell and Michael are Hawke’s Bay school leavers and their scholarships are worth $20,000 each. John Kleinjan just finished his first year at university and received a $15,000 scholarship. Ashley who is from Taupo has been awarded a special scholarship to finish her degree, worth $10,000.

Mr Park said Unison is keen to support the development of new talent in the community, and provide students with the opportunity to follow their passion.

This is the first year Unison has decided to award prospective engineering students with scholarships.

“We are proud to get involved in young people’s education. But we do more than just pay their fees. We also want to provide them with experiential opportunities in an innovative engineering environment” Mr Park said.

“John is currently working at Unison, during his summer break. The other three students will spend one week at Unison before university starts in 2011 and they all have the opportunity to take up a summer job at Unison next December”.

“It is a great to be part of the team and see what actually goes on, because there is much more to it than most people think” John Kleinjan said.

Mr Park said that Unison’s Smart Grid initiative will expose the cutting edge of the electrical engineering discipline to the students. “We are always looking at ways to improve the service to our customers, Smart Grid is part of that strategy”.

From the 40 applicants from Hawke’s Bay, Taupo and Rotorua, Unison shortlisted 17 students.  As part of the selection process, they spent one day at Unison and talked with previous graduate engineers and engineering managers about real life at Unison.

“This was a great opportunity for the students to see what it means to work at Unison. For us it was part of the selection process” Mr Park said.
Unison’s Network Strategy Manager Andrew Gatland has been involved in the scholarship programme.

“These scholarships will provide young people within Unison’s community with a fantastic head-start in pursuing a career in engineering” Mr Gatland said. “The scholarships are particularly valuable at the moment, with less people choosing to take on electrical engineering.”

To win the scholarship students needed to write a 500-word essay describing themselves, why they are interested in completing an Engineering degree, and what they could offer Unison if they were selected.

About Unison
Unison is the powerlines company that safely delivers electricity to businesses and homes across three of the North Island’s most popular regional tourist destinations – Hawke’s Bay, Taupo and Rotorua. Unison is the fifth largest electricity powerlines company in New Zealand and is responsible for the design, development, operation and maintenance of electrical powerlines in these three regions.

Unison delivers approximately 1,700 GWh of electricity annually. Unison has been serving the community and providing a service in this industry sector for over 80 years.

For more information about Unison’s scholarships go to www.unison.co.nz or please call Unison Networks HR Advisor Michelle Lyes, on 0800 286 476.

For more information please contact
Nathalie van Dort
Communications Coordinator
06 873 9365 or 021 273 9498