24. Paraone Luiten-Apirana - What's Paraone up to now?

Māori in Engineering

Paraone Luiten-Apirana (Ngāti Hikairo, Te Arawa, Ngāi Tūhoe) was a kaikōrero in Episode 12. A year and a half later, we recorded this episode ā-tinana and talked about where his life is at now.

When we last spoke, Paraone was studying towards his hefty conjoint degree in Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) specialising in mechanical at Waipapa Taumata Rau | University of Auckland. During this time, he was also under the mentorship of Dr Maureen Lander, with a group of other students, contributing to the new engineering building. He also contributed to the new engineering building and supported the formation of a compulsory paper grounded in te ao Māori for first year engineering tauira.

Now, Paraone is a PhD candidate and his thesis is all about bringing the worlds of toi Māori and engineering together in this day and age. The engineering building is now open for use and he is fully involved in the development of that first-year paper! A beaut chance to reconnect with Paraone and I hope you enjoy hearing where he is at e te whānau. A bunch of links that build from our kōrero below:

One of the explanations out there of ihi, wehi and wana:

Paraone’s story was first in the Auckland University news and reshaped via this article.

Info about the university’s new haka, created with staff and Tāpeta Wehi.

This episode is supported by Te Ao Rangahau Engineering NZ Grant Programme 2023 and a total of $300 was donated to Paraone for his valued contribution.