Staff Profile: Nova Jackson, Head Makerspace Creative Technologist  

20 April 2023

Meet Nova Jackson – a Bachelor of Commerce student double-majoring in Management and Operations and Supply Chain Management, a mother, and the Head Creative Technologist of the Business School’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) makerspace. As a Creative Technologist, Nova works in the state-of-the-art makerspace running workshops and equipment trainings for students and staff and helping them on their personal DIY projects during open hours. 

Tell us a bit about you and your background?  

I came to the University from the performing arts industry, having previously worked in lighting design, stage, and technical management. I also have four kids and two step-kids. The combined wild worlds of the theatre and parenting a small horde have supplied me with a Swiss Army knife set of skills and a passion for problem-solving, that have come in very handy as part of the CIE team! 

Tell us about your interest in innovation, and why it’s important? 

Innovation is what people naturally gravitate towards when they are empowered to do so. There is always scope to make things more effective, more efficient and more enjoyable! I’m passionate about innovation because it’s about breaking down those barriers that make us think that something is impossible, or too difficult, and reframes those problems as challenges to be solved. Innovation is important because, to quote The Lorax: “It’s not about what it is, it’s about what it can become”. 

Tell us about your experience coming to the University of Auckland as a mature student: 

It’s definitely not the clichéd undergraduate experience! There are certainly upsides to returning to study as an adult, as I’ve picked up more experience and knowledge over the years to better contextualise the lecture topics than when I was first studying at 18, plus the greater opportunity cost provides a lot of motivation to succeed. Managing the competing priorities is a bit like juggling flaming chainsaws though. 

What does your role as lead technologist involve?  

Common Maker Space philosophy emphasises the value of peer-to-peer learning, so our Creative Technologist (CT) team is made up of students who provide training and project support to other students and staff of the University. We teach people how to use the equipment in the makerspace, and also in the Business School’s Te Ahi Hangarau 5G powered Technology Hub, and help deliver curricula programmes such as Business202 and BUSMGT755. As one of the Lead CT’s I spent the summer devising and facilitating a series of workshops and events for various groups to introduce them to the opportunities that CIE offers and to equip them with tools to engage with ideation, prototyping, and innovation. 

Tell us about some of the programmes you have helped deliver and what have been your highlights: 

CIE events attract a really diverse range of participants, so over the space of just a few weeks we had a huge number of visitors! There was the NZ Centre for Gifted Education Mind Plus day, where we hosted over 130 six- to fourteen-year-olds, and presented them with a variety of open-ended creative challenges.  

We had high-achieving high school students visiting as part of the Rotary Science and Technology Forum, who practiced coding, battling robots, and did a workshop on design thinking and the process of invention.  

We welcomed new students to the University with Tōia Ki Waipapa, Unibound, and Summer Start, where we laser-cut keyrings, designed t-shirts, painted mugs, and experienced VR. 

We also ran jewellery making sessions for staff and students, to welcome them to CIE, and to raise awareness of the programmes and opportunities available here.  

It’s been a fantastic opportunity to apply the skills and knowledge I’m gaining as a student, and wonderful working in a space where the aspirational philosophy of “let’s find a way to make it work!” genuinely is the primary modus operandi.