Innovation Day is a MedTech CoRE programme initiated four years ago by Te Kōhao Health as part of its Māori Schools Outreach Programme.

Read the The day brings together researchers from universities across New Zealand, to encourage Māori students to stick with their STEM subjects, to highlight where maths and science can take them in their careers, and how it can be used to make a difference in people’s lives.

The event was hosted by Nga Taiatea in Hamilton and this year included students from Ngaruawahia High School.

ABI researchers were joined by joined by experts from the University of Auckland, University of Canterbury and Auckland University of Technology.
In a lively and interactive way, students learned about the mechanics of the heart, the fluid mechanics of the nose, about “assistive augmentation” and what happens to the brain when we suffer a knock to the head.

“We’ve been looking at the presentations on concussion, and another about new prototype devices, which was really neat,” said Year 10 Nga Taiatea student, Takiri Te Ata Tohe. “We also looked at how the heart works – they showed us rat hearts contracting, and how they measure how healthy the hearts are.”

Another Year 10 Nga Taiatea student Te Arikirangi Paekau agreed, and that she was encouraged to continue studying science after what she’d seen and learned.

“Especially the concussion stuff. It’s a real serious
problem, and these guys are designing an app for phones, so it’s accessible to everyone.

"So even if you get a small knock to the head you would be able to check if you’re ok. I thought that was pretty cool.”