Racing to the Top
From a young age, Luke Brown's life was filled with the hum of engines and the thrill of speed. Growing up with a father who was a mechanic and a speedway racer, Luke naturally gravitated toward the world of cars. "I was always around cars, whether it was road cars or speedway cars. It just felt like a natural progression for me," Luke recalls.
As he matured, his passion for the automotive world only deepened. Working alongside his father and eventually racing in speedway himself, Luke knew that his future lay in the industry.
Luke started working at Penrose Motors five years ago and hasn’t looked back.
He has now completed MITO’s New Zealand Certificate in Light Automotive Engineering (Level 3 and 4) and was awarded a 2024 MITO and Inspiring Futures Foundation Business Skills scholarship. "It was really awesome to win that. I was pretty humbled. I've always wanted to have my own business, and this seemed like a natural step forward."
Grant, Luke's supervisor, has witnessed firsthand the qualities that set Luke apart. "He strives to do the absolute best," Grant says. "Whether it's his presentation, his racing, or his work ethic, he never accepts average. Luke always strives to do everything at the highest level."
Luke's recent promotion to foreman is a testament to his leadership abilities and commitment to excellence. "His team leadership skills have really come to the forefront," Grant notes. "When people see his work ethic and the standards he sets, it lifts the whole shop."
With Luke now in a leadership position where he can influence and guide others, he’s taking what he’s learning from the programme and applying it to his workplace. "We've got older staff, younger apprentices, and people from different cultures. It's been quite rewarding to figure out how to get the best out of everyone, using different strategies to connect with different people," he explains.
For Grant, Luke's development is not just about one individual's success but also about the future of the trade in New Zealand. "People are initially cautious about taking on new apprentices. They’re learning and they make mistakes - they’re only human. But we have to look at the bigger picture. It's important for the future of our trade to train our own people.”
Through it all, Luke remains grounded, valuing the support and knowledge of his colleagues and encourages anyone starting out in the industry to take advantage of that experience. "People are always willing to help and offer their advice and skills. You can't beat the knowledge from someone who's been doing it for years. Mistakes are going to happen, but don't be afraid to ask for help."
For most students in Aotearoa, the experience of designing and welding together an electric kart’s chassis is something entirely new, and so is the idea of a career in engineering.
This is where a free, nationwide programme from EVolocity connects the dots, and the Inspiring Futures Foundation (IFF) is proud to be backing them as a Premier Sponsor.
EVolocity's core programme gives Year 7–13 students the creative freedom to design, engineer, and build their own electric karts or bikes, using an electric motor kit as their starting point. Along the way, these students pick up skills including project management, teamwork, CAD design, and welding.
The programme runs across Auckland, Bay of Plenty/Rotorua, Waikato, Taranaki, Manawatū, Wellington, Nelson, and Canterbury/Otago, with teams working alongside teachers and mentors before competing at Regional Finals.
Jo Morgan, Head of Partnerships at EVolocity Charitable Trust, said the IFF’s belief and advocacy will be genuinely transformative in answering the call-to-action for more engineers and youth with engineering skills.
“We’re doing everything we can to inspire rangatahi into engineering and innovation, however, securing sustainable funding is always a challenge. IFF stepped in at exactly the right moment.
“A multi‑year commitment of this scale gives us the stability and runway we need to grow our impact as a charity.”
IFF Convenor Louise Sixton, says that, for IFF, partnerships like this go far beyond funding, especially when considering a national shortage of engineers.
“EVolocity represent mentorship, the opportunity for young people to try something new, and a doorway towards potential STEM careers. It’s exciting that, together, IFF and EVolocity are bridging the gap between the classroom and industry.”
CEO of and co-founder of Heartlab, Will Hewitt (25) competed in EVolocity at just 15 years old while at Nelson College. Three years later, he co-founded HeartLab, a cloud-native cardiac imaging platform that uses AI to support cardiologists across New Zealand, Australia, and the United States. At the time, he credited EVolocity for giving him an engineer's mindset and the critical thinking skills he uses every day.
Jackson Crawford, formerly of Mahurangi College, took a similar path. He went from building his first electric vehicle as an EVolocity student to becoming an Avionics Team Lead at Dawn Aerospace. Jackson is now working on a next-generation spaceplane designed to operate in micro-gravity environments. He has said that EVolocity gave him hands-on exposure to real-world skills and a head start over many of his peers at university.
With no government funding, Morgan says EVolocity relies entirely on the financial support of corporate sponsors and funding partners to deliver the programme.
“This grant has lifted a significant weight off our shoulders, and we are deeply grateful for IFF’s support.”
Visit the Inspiring Futures Foundation website for more information on the grants available: www.inspiringfutures.nz
Jemma Cheer