FYP presentation Competition Workshop: Presenting Technical Projects

Got a game-changing project you believe in?

It’s time to make sure the world understands your vision.

ENTRE, in collaboration with MECHSoc, IEEE, CAPESoc, ProdSoc, CompSoc, CivNatSoc, and TronSoc, proudly presents a new cross-discipline initiative designed to strengthen one of the most in-demand skills in industry: communication.

Learn how to present with confidence, captivate any audience, and translate a technical project for a non-technical audience.

This Presentation Workshop is the kick-off event of the FYP Presentation Competition — a new series celebrating final-year engineering projects through pitching, mentorship, and public presentation.
You'll hear from two outstanding communication experts and work hands-on to craft your own elevator pitch.

Featuring Guest Speakers

• Zach is a proud Native American (Choctaw and Cherokee tribes) and Hispanic entrepreneur hailing from the state of New Mexico in the southwest U.S. He earned two degrees in design and engineering from what is now the D School at Stanford University. After uni, he spent 20 years building startups in Silicon Valley, learning more from his failures than his exits. Zach's kaupapa is to help grow the economy of Aotearoa New Zealand via founder-centric startup innovation. He currently does this as an angel investor, sales and growth advisor, and Head of Programmes at Ministry of Awesome, one of the country's largest and most impactful startup support organisations.

• A Chartered Engineer, Colin brings broad 3-waters and infrastructure experience to any project. He has over 30 years of experience in a wide range of civil engineering projects and has held many senior roles within many multi-disciplinary teams in Scotland, England, Australia and New Zealand. Colin is a regular Project Manager for multi-utility Frameworks, as well as a regular Design lead for Civils and Infrastructure projects. Extensive experience in working on utility infrastructure as well as asset investment planning and implementation. Colin has developed communication, leadership, and engineering skills that help him to facilitate successful outcomes for his clients.
  His career highlight was his Canterbury earthquake emergency response role, leading the sewer recovery after the 22 Feb 2011, then becoming a Team Leader with SCIRT, leading a diverse team from different consultants.
  Colin has advised both national and local government ministers, as well as many government agencies on infrastructure projects including potential H&S issues that may arise, including with Transport Scotland on the proposed upgrade of the A9, a major arterial route through the heart of Scotland.
  Colin returned to Christchurch in late 2023 after 9 years working back in Scotland alongside Scottish Water and other Scottish government agencies and is working as a Technical Director of Infrastructure with Davis Ogilvie & Partners Ltd.

The remainder of the series will include:

• A Preliminary Round of four smaller pitching competitions.

• One-on-one mentorship with engineers from top NZ firms for the 8 finalists.

• A Final Pitch Night Showcase presenting for the chance to win from a $7000+ industry-sponsored prize pool!!

*Please note, anyone is welcome at the presentation workshop. You do not have to be entered in the competition to participate.