UC students celebrate achievements at August Graduation

At just 21, Alicia Smith has already landed her dream job, led an aerospace team to victory in an international competition and won an elite scholarship.

A seven-year journey ends with a doctorate for UC’s new Kaihautū Matua | Executive Director Office of Treaty Partnerships Dr Elizabeth Brown (Ngāi Tahu).

While many 18-year-olds are still at high school, teenage twins are celebrating graduating with non-identical University of Canterbury degrees. 

Growing up in his village of Vaiafai, Iva in Samoa, Leali’ie’e Dr Tufulasi Taleni never imagined that he would one day be feted as an award-winning educator, and graduate with a UC doctorate.

After dedicating two decades to teaching in primary and Māori Medium education, Gaynor and Grant Hakaria swapped teaching for studying.

A University of Canterbury PhD graduate is using digital technology to transform traditional processes in New Zealand’s billion-dollar construction industry.

After almost two decades as a mechanical engineer, a growing interest in leadership led Kayne Davis to UC’s MBA programme and a step change in his career.

Passionate about public health, Dr Fazeela Mohamed Ellwood has overcome a debilitating injury and a global pandemic to complete her PhD in Health Science at UC.

Austen Rangi knows his mum would have been proud to watch him walk across the stage at his upcoming graduation celebration in Christchurch.