Testimonials and media

Ben Daly, 2018

"The course is great because it empowers students to work on unique, challenging, real-world projects they wouldn't otherwise have the chance to work on in the early stages of their careers. The projects themselves allow you to pitch new and innovative ideas about real business problems to a real business and bring those ideas to reality. It allows students to get out of their comfort zone and discover hidden abilities that they may not have discovered until later in their careers and this can be a real benefit when searching for your first job. Students should be hungry to seek greatness within these projects as they are an amazing way to let yourself shine in the eyes of potential employer."

Morris Miao, ASB Bank project, 2014

"INFOSYS 345 has been the most useful and successful class during my entire six-year study at the University of Auckland. It helped me to find a job and led me to my consulting career with all the opportunities, luck, and confidence."

Kun Qian, One-Net project, 2014

"One of the most valuable experiences during my undergraduate degree. It gave me valuable experiences, both technical and business, as well as a great opportunity to experience the entire life cycle of a real-life technology project - from scoping the problem to developing the prototype to doing user training in the business. We were given great mentorship from both the sponsor company and the University staff, setting us up for success."

JC Favier, ASB project, 2016

"A challenging yet rewarding course for individuals who are seeking to gain an 'out of the classroom' experience from the University. The industry experience has helped me to put myself ahead of my cohort in the job market... I’ve gained invaluable networking skills which has led me to being appointed to the local board of one New Zealand’s largest health education charities."

Nisha Tank, ASB project, 2016

"The best course I have ever taken in my three years of study at the University, and it has contributed the most to my professional development."

Jesse Narvasa, T&G project, 2016

"No other courses I’ve done have been able to match this one. It’s the combination of soft skills, interacting with your client, managing the project and dealing with workload, along with the technical skills that you pick up as you develop your team’s solution, which makes this course invaluable. And your supervisors will guide and critique you along the way."

Victoria Holyoake, Red Cross project, 2016

"[The course] teaches invaluable life lessons about the complexities of real-world business and group dynamics... Guaranteed to present a diverse range of challenges that arise, in a context which encourages continuous learning as preparation for entering the workforce. Overall, my highlight was working alongside passionate supervisors who were always there to provide support and advice where necessary. It was an experience unlike any other... I would highly recommend taking this learning opportunity as the overall experience is guaranteed to provide lifelong benefits and relationships."

Gunt Kittiwat , United Steel project, 2017

"One of the best choices I’ve made in my university life. We got to face real business challenges with a rather high level of complexity - the stuff that managers have trouble dealing with. I always knew it wasn't going to be easy. We never knew where we might end up, but through the support that we’ve got from the company and the invaluable advice from our supervisors, we’ve managed to plough through to the end. This course has done a perfect job of bridging a gap and preparing students for the real world."

Scott Sause, United Steel project, 2017

"The highlight of my undergraduate studies at the University of Auckland. The level of difficulty and intricacy has enabled me to learn and develop fundamental skills and to gain a higher level of experience and knowledge that I would not have acquired from a textbook or a case study. It had a very positive impact on my personal growth in reference to applicable interpersonal, communication, social and analytical skills. This project has taught me how to produce quality output under pressure."

James Bergin, Chief Architect, ASB Bank

"Today’s dynamic, modern business environment is increasingly defined by the need to rapidly adapt in order to effectively leverage the potential of technology. Having graduates who are able to apply their learning at pace while quickly fitting into a commercial environment is key to their delivery of value early in their careers. The INFOSYS 345 course has a successful formula that provides students with real-world experience and the opportunity to practice exactly that - all while delivering genuine business benefit to sponsoring organisations. As a frequent project sponsor, we have been able to witness this first-hand, and I look forward to continuing to partner with the academic team on future projects, as well as evolving the course to meet our future business needs."

Michael Snowden, Managing Director, OneNet Limited

"OneNet’s continued sponsorship of such projects is due to the tangible benefits such a course offers to a commercial enterprise. Fundamentally, a student project provides OneNet with a low-risk way to experiment, often with new technologies and processes, and to build a working proof-of-concept without requiring large investments of time from existing staff. A number of larger-scale commercial projects have evolved from work that was started as a student project. OneNet also views such projects as a long-form job interview."

Devendra Patel, CEO and Managing Director, Computer Fanatics Ltd

"We have found the INFOSYS 345 course very rewarding for us at Computer Fanatics Limited, and if the students are asked, one will find the same response from them. Projects bring young and innovative ideas to our team and we find our staff rejuvenated to work with young and eager minds. For students, once they graduate, it is the equivalent of having a year’s work experience! Now which student would not want that when applying for a job? We have, and will continue to support this programme as long as we have the ability to accommodate eager and hungry students from this course."

Kevin Drinkwater, Chief Information Officer, Mainfreight

"We were impressed by the team of students working on our project. The team were outstanding in the way they came to understand our business overall, the current processes, the issues and our objectives. Their report and findings were thorough, including insights we had not observed. We thoroughly recommend sponsoring a group of students for your project."

IT Brief: No shortage of interest in University of Auckland's IT exhibition

"The University of Auckland’s School of Business recently held an IT exhibition that showcased the working projects prepared to the specifications of certain New Zealand businesses. Among the sponsors for 2010 (the course is now in its 25th year) were Deloitte, Pumpkin Patch, NetSafe, Outpost Central and Tenzing."

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