Mitchell Graham, John Kleinjan and Ashley Stewart are the first recipients of the Unison scholarship that will pay for their fees while studying Electrical Engineering at the University of Canterbury.

The programme also includes paid employment during the summer period to allow the students to work towards completion of 800 practical and professional hours required as part of their study, as well as gain valuable experience putting theory into practice.

"At exam time many students are trying to find work experience placements, so it’s been great to not have to think about that and just focus on studying," said Mitchell Graham.

Unison Chief Executive Officer, Ken Sutherland said the company was keen to support the development of new talent in the community, and provide students with the opportunity to follow their passion.

"We are proud to get involved in young people’s education; not just to pay fees, but also to provide them with experiential opportunities in an innovative engineering environment."

Mitchell was a Hawke’s Bay school leaver, and has now completed his first year of study. His scholarship is worth $20,000. John has now finished his second 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.

Ashley Stuart will be working on the Smart Grid initiative during her placement. Mr Sutherland said Unison’s Smart Grid initiative would expose the cutting edge of electrical engineering to the students.

"We are always looking at ways to improve the service to our customers and our Smart Grid is part of that strategy."

For the students, the placement will also have flow on benefits to their continuing study. John Kleinjan has already worked a summer with Unison, and is finding that being immersed in the industry is helping him to grasp new concepts as they come up in study.

"My supervisor would get his whiteboard marker out and explain something that I hadn’t learnt yet, and, after my time at Unison, when I was back in class and the subject came up, I had a more in-depth grasp on what we’re doing," he said.

And it’s also a great opportunity to see their study in action. Ashley Stuart commented, "sometimes it’s hard to understand the practical application of a theory, but then you come across a scenario at Unison where that theory is put into action and it all clicks into place".

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.

"The scholarships are particularly valuable at the moment, with less people choosing to take on electrical engineering."