Scholarship certificate presentation
The Inspiring Futures Foundation had the pleasure this week of presenting three deserving candidates from AB Equipment Limited, Lower Hutt branch, with their MITO/Inspiring Futures Foundation scholarship certificates.
From left to right: AB Equipment Branch Manager Chris Groves; MITO Executive Director Verna Niao; Business Skills Scholarship recipient Christa Sneddon; Duncan Sandy Fraser Memorial Scholarship recipient Brendon Mikoz; Business Skills Scholarship recipient Lucija Lovric; Inspiring Futures Foundation Trustee Nick Leggett; MITO Training Advisor Brian Scott.
Find the full list of 2025 scholarship recipients here.
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