NEWSROOM

CIE participants recognised with Distinguished Graduate Awards 

17 October 2022

This year, a record 59 student participants of the Business School’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) have had their newly acquired skills and extra-curricular work recognised with a University of Auckland Distinguished Graduate Award.  

The Co-Curricular Recognition Programme aims to officially recognise students’ involvement in co-curricular activities and help them identify the skills they have developed. With 80 hours of experience formally clocked, an interview and a professional development workshop attended, participants in the programme can receive a University of Auckland Distinguished Graduate Award which is formally recognised on academic transcripts. Recipients also receive a certificate signed by the Vice-Chancellor.  

Participants can have a wide range of co-curricular activities recognised, categorised within four paths – Community Engagement, Leadership, Global Citizens and Innovation.  Staff at CIE have contributed to Campus Life’s co-curricular recognition programme through administering a range of opportunities. These include the Velocity organising committee, Unleash Space equipment training and participation in programmes such as Velocity, VentureLab, the Solve It with 5G sustainable innovation sprint and Summer Lab.  

Bachelor of Commerce/Bachelor of Arts student Ana Loader says “By being a part of Velocity, I made a lot of new friends and found my place at university. This was especially important to me as after the COVID lockdowns I felt like I lacked a sense of community at uni, so Velocity really helped in filling that gap. It is nice that all the time I’ve spent in Velocity is being seen. Being able to be involved and help the entrepreneurship community grow while being recognised for it is awesome.” 

With over 65,000 hours of co-curricular and volunteer involvement officially recognised since the programme’s inception in 2020, and more than 45 verified activities on campus, students have developed their capabilities, supported great causes and given back to the community. 

Campus Life Student Engagement Manager, Louise Jackson commented, “We have seen a phenomenal growth in co-curricular hours completed by our students over the last couple of years. Despite the disruption and uncertainty we have faced, our students’ commitment and dedication to their co-curricular activities has not faltered. It was a pleasure and an honour to celebrate their achievements at the recent Distinguished Graduate Celebration event.” 

Congratulations CIE award recipients! 

Abby Wong 
Adithya Balaji 
Adnan  Zameer 
Alexandar Majstrovic 
Alyssandra Lim-Yip 
Amber Peek 
Ana Loader 
Angel Chan 
Angela Yang 
Anubhav Khanna 
April Chen 
Ayush Sharma 
Brooke Kingsbury 
Caitlin Hawker 
Caitlyn Khoo 
Cassandra D’Souza 
Chalu Jugo 
Charlene Lo 
Claudia Epskamp 
Courtney Sole 
Debora Cheng 
Div Panesar 
Ellie Taking 
Farheen Kothiwala 
Inka Pleiss 
Jae Min Seo 
Jeffrey Liu 
Jinghong Zeng 
Joanne Chou 
Liam Nelson 
Luke Liddell 
Marcella Di Pietro Selwyn 
Maryam Madawi 
Max Johansson-Pugh 
Meghshyam Prakash 
Michael French 
Michael Heard 
Qun Ma 
Rameen Iftikhar 
Ruby Cheng 
Salma Young 
Samantha Chan 
Shannon Lu 
Shiquan Ji 
Shreya Singaraju 
Sreeniketh Raghavan 
Sue Zhang 
Suyash Kathuria 
Tamara Craigen 
Tariq Ghazaly 
Tayla Fraser-Brown 
Tracy Feng 
Ursula Vink 
Vanessa Miao 
Vera Meng 
Wei-Cheng Want 
William Tam 
Yiqing Wang 
Zoe Chou