Latest alumni news
09 March 2023
John Chrisstoffels is a senior lecturer at the University of Canterbury and a critically acclaimed filmmaker and musician of over 35 years. A respected member of the New Zealand film-making community, John regularly assists and mentors young filmmakers around the country, lending his support to film organisations and events. His latest film, Building Bridges: Bill Youren's Vision of Peace, chronicles the life and times of Hawkes Bay farmer and peace activist Bill Youren during the post-war years
08 March 2023
A love of travel and adventure has taken Ghislaine Lewis around the world. Originally from the Caribbean, Ghislaine has studied in Virginia, Florida, New Zealand, and Australia. She is now an Associate Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Lynchburg in Virginia with research interests in new media, global politics, and policy. We caught up with Ghislaine almost 10 years after living and completing her PhD here at UC.
06 March 2023
Hamish Laird grew up working with electrical circuits and electronics so it's no wonder that he went on to study engineering and start his own company, ELMG Digital Power. Hamish is also an Adjunct Senior Fellow here at the University of Canterbury, supervising the next generation of electrical engineers.
30 January 2023
Leaders need to be responsive and agile in uncertain times and a unique, new scholarship is offering three outstanding Canterbury businesspeople the opportunity to upskill and learn from influential mentors in their fields.
17 January 2023
After a successful career in marketing, Alastair McLae decided to back to study and follow his passion for football and sport. Graduating with his Bachelor of Sport Coaching in 2022, he is now the Club Manager for Christchurch United FC, a Director with the Football Federation Samoa, and Director of his own football consultancy business – a true example of someone turning their interests into a career. We spoke with Ali about how all of this came to be.
17 January 2023
Melissa Lee has been appointed as the inaugural chief executive of the Chinese Canadian Museum. Opening later this year in Vancouver, "the establishment of the museum comes at a critical time and addresses the need for ongoing public education surrounding cultural respect and inclusion" says Melissa. Looking back on her time at UC, she thinks fondly of Aotearoa and reminisces on the flat whites and Anzac biscuits.
19 December 2022
Congratulations to all our Pasifika students celebrating graduation this month.
12 December 2022
It’s Graduation time in Ōtautahi Christchurch with 2000 University of Canterbury graduates celebrating successfully completing their studies this week in full regalia.
12 December 2022
A desire to highlight the experiences of Polynesian men in professional rugby league has been the driving force for University of Canterbury lecturer Phillip Borell (Ngāti Ranginui) to complete his PhD and graduate this month.
21 November 2022
Jonathan has worked as a lawyer for the past 20 years, both in London and New Zealand. He is currently one of three litigation partners in the Duncan Cotterill Wellington office and served as the most recent chair for the law firm. This year he was recognised amongst NZ Lawyer Most Influential Lawyers 2022.
12 September 2022
Katie Pickles is a Professor of History at the University of Canterbury. A scholar of feminist and postcolonial history, Katie completed her undergraduate studies at UC before traveling overseas to gain her MA and PhD. Her new book, Heroines in History: A Thousand Faces has recently been published by Routledge and she is currently writing a new biography of Kate Sheppard.
12 September 2022
Joe is a lead statistical programming analyst and lead software engineer at Roche, a pioneer in healthcare and pharmaceuticals. He spoke to us about his career so far and how he hopes to improve the drug discovery process with AI.
09 June 2022
Two University of Canterbury (UC) Honorary Doctorates have been recognised in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours list, among other remarkable University of Canterbury alumni and former staff.
09 June 2022
The University of Canterbury (UC) is again ranked among the top 300 universities in the world.
08 June 2022
University of Canterbury students who graduated in absentia have been donning their caps and regalia this week to take part in UC’s graduate photo opportunities.
02 June 2022
Vanessa is the CEO and co-founder of OrbViz - a data visualisation programme helps businesses visualise their data and turn it into meaningful insights.
02 June 2022
Jack is a human rights lawyer, working as a Researcher for Progressive Voice – a participatory rights-based policy, research, and advocacy organisation connected with grassroots civil society and community-based organisations in Burma/Myanmar.
30 May 2022
It is important that the design and detailing of the panel-to-structure connections ensure that their strength and displacement capacity are adequate to meet the corresponding seismic demands, at least during design level earthquakes says UC PhD successor Dr Jitendra Bhatta.
25 May 2022
John is the Founder and Executive Chair of All Things Considered - a global platform for considerate consumers of fashion.
24 May 2022
Nina has been the CEO of Enterprise Angels since 2019, who earlier this year invested in their 100th start-up.
19 May 2022
Paul is the co-founder and CEO of saveBOARD, a low carbon sustainable building materials company whose ambition is to upcycle as much packaging and construction waste into building materials as possible.
01 April 2022
Tā Tipene O’Regan (Ngāi Tahu) has recevied the prestigious national accolade, the Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Award – Te Pou Whakarae o Aotearoa.
21 February 2022
Kirsten Norquay, a graduate of UC Civil and Natural Resources Engineering, talks about her role as a Principal Process Engineer at Stantec.
11 January 2022
World-renowned University of Canterbury Physics Professor Philip Butler has been made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (CNZM) for services to science, education and health.
21 December 2021
Inspired by the experience of helping her own children learn to read and write, Elizabeth Kay has qualified as a teacher so she can help other Deaf students learn and feel pride in their identity.