Latest news with #MOTAT
RNZ News
13-07-2025
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
International award-winning MOTAT exhibition Te Puawananga
arts te ao Māori about 1 hour ago MOTAT's Te Puawananga Exhibtion was recently named International Exhibition of the Year at the Museum and Heritage Awards in London. As it turned one, it beat the Egyptian Museum in Cairo and Seattle's Museum of Pop. Te Puawananga hopes to reconnect young people with science through a cultural lens and tackle the declining interest in science and technology by recognising and integrating Matauranga Maori and Western Science. With tactile and hands-on activities it hopes to make science relevant and inclusive while engaging children with STEM topics. The exhibit was designed in partnership with Maori educators and artists. The judges of the awards described it as a "vibrant, culturally connected space that seamlessly blends science and Maori culture." Auckland-based multi-disciplinary artist, curator, sculptor and strong cultural and Iwi advocate, Pita Turei, was heavily involved in the development of the exhibtion. He speaks to Culture 101
NZ Herald
19-06-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Inside Leigh Hart's bonkers quest to hand-deliver a SnackaChangi chip to every Kiwi
Imagine one man trudging across New Zealand with a singular, absurd mission: to personally hand-deliver one SnackaChangi chip to each and every one of the country's 5.31 million residents. Not a bag, not a handful, but a singular crisp per person. That man is Leigh Hart, and his unhinged campaign for SnackaChangi is just as hilarious as it is utterly impractical. Chatting with Hart about this logistical nightmare, it's clear he's approaching it with the kind of Kiwi grit that might make Sir Edmund Hillary nod approvingly (or more likely take on Everest as the easier mountain to climb). Hart, known for his comedic antics on Sports Cafe and for spawning the SnackaChangi brand (loosely inspired by a whimsical moment in Bali), is no stranger to bold ideas. 'The chips are pretty good, you know,' he says with a grin. 'We think once you try one, you'll never go back. So why not get one to every Kiwi?' A noble sentiment perhaps, but the reality is a gloriously chaotic mess. The plan is to package each single chip in tiny individual packets and physically deliver them door-to-door. Sure enough, Hart quickly realised he'd bitten off more than he could crunch. 'I wish I never started,' he laughs. The first hurdle? Data. He tried accessing census information, only to find it less reliable than a 1987 telephone directory he scavenged from MOTAT. 'Have you ever tried to find a phone book?' he demands, exasperated. 'Took me two weeks!' Then there's the sheer scale of it. New Zealand's population is growing faster than Hart can keep up. 'Every time I deliver one, someone else is born,' he says. His initial alphabetical approach – delivering to an Auckland Smith before jetting to a Dunedin Smythe – was a disaster. 'I'd deliver two chips and spend a day travelling,' he groans. But then switching to a geographical strategy didn't help. 'People don't immigrate alphabetically, and they don't stay put like a census day.' Jolly inconsiderate of them, certainly by Hart's measure. The result? A comical inequity crisis. Some lucky Kiwis have received multiple chips, while others remain chip-less. 'I've had heated discussions at doorsteps,' Hart confesses. 'A guy wants chips for his wife and kids, but if they're not on my list, I have to plan a return in three weeks.' It's not an exact science, he concedes, and there can be collateral damage which, as in the above example, Hart has directly encountered. 'When Dad gets a chip but Mum's left in the cold… let's just say there can be familial discontent!' Hart's record-keeping is as old-school as his tattered telephone directory. He's crossing names off a list and tracking progress on an Auckland billboard that 'clicks over' with each delivery – though he suspects a disconnect between his vision and execution. 'Sometimes the number goes down,' he says, baffled. Undaunted, the quest rolls on, racking up some impressive wins. As of June 18, he'd delivered a whopping total of 17 chips. For a campaign that launched two days earlier, that's… a start. The logistics are mind-boggling. Hart's crisscrossing the country on motorbikes, steam trains, and anything else he can commandeer, meeting 'real Kiwis' along the way. 'I've been on a journey of personal discovery,' he says. 'To find myself, I need to lose myself – and maybe lose myself again.' But the physical toll is real. He's trekked kilometres into the bush only to find empty huts or, worse, learn the intended recipient has passed away. 'I have to take that chip back to the printers, repackage it, new name, reassign it,' he sighs. 'That's not really fully in my skillset.' Desperate for efficiency, drastic measures are making their way onto his personal whiteboard. 'I might get in an airplane, give a crop-dusting approach a go. Sort of a chip bomber,' he muses. Where history tells us frogs and even fish have occasionally rained down from the heavens, chips are lighter. Offering a better consistency, he nevertheless observes that wind direction could make accuracy a nightmare. 'I could drop them here, and they'll land there – probably on someone who's already had one.' Logistics may fail Hart, but optimism never does. 'We do these things not because they're easy, but because they're hard,' he says. With a 96% chance of 'something' happening (he won't specify what), Hart's pressing on, fuelled by the hope of connecting with Kiwis and maybe, just maybe, converting a nation to SnackaChangi. For now, he's back on the road, chip in hand, ready to meet the next Kiwi on his list. We suggest a chip to the moon may be easier.
RNZ News
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RNZ News
MOTAT wins International Exhibition of the Year
Simon Gould, Head of Exhibitions accepting MOTAT'S award from MC and BBC host Ella Al-Shamahi. Photo: SUPPLIED/Hayley Bray It's been described as the 'Oscars of the Museum world' and our very own MOTAT - Auckland Tamaki Makaurau's Museum of Transport and Technology has won big. Earlier this month it took out the International Exhibition of the Year at the Museums and Heritage Awards for its Te Puawananga Science and Technology Centre. Simon Gould is Head of Exhibitions at MOTAT and joined Jesse to tell him all about it. Learning about energy and matter at MOTAT's award winning Te Puawānanga Science and Technology Centre. Photo: SUPPLIED/MOTAT
NZ Herald
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
What's on this weekend in Auckland: Comedy festival, Africa Day, Darkfield and more
MOTAT is celebrating recent successes with a weekend of sports technology fun. If you're looking for reasons to pry yourself from the clutches of your couch and explore Tāmaki Makaurau this weekend, you'll almost certainly find something to do on our list. Catch a show in the last weekend of the NZ International Comedy Festival, check out the General Collective Lifestyle & Design Market or the Auckland Home & Garden Show, or experience something completely different at Darkfield. Here's our top picks for things to do in Auckland this weekend and beyond. 1) Africa Day Immerse yourself in the cultures of Africa this Saturday at Africa Day in Silo Park. The free whānau-friendly day of celebrations includes live music and dance performances, artists, fashion shows, market stalls, food vendors and good vibes. Among the performers there are the Burundian Drummers, Congolese Dance Group, Keshia, DJ Presto and more. The day celebrates the many and varied cultures of Africa and is an opportunity for the growing community of Aotearoa's African diaspora to come together and share their unique cultures with each other and the wider Auckland public. When: May 24, 10am-6pm.
Scoop
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
Samsung Solve For Tomorrow Returns For 2025 In Search Of Student Innovators Across Aotearoa
Press Release – Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Samsung Solve for Tomorrow is returning for its fifth year, in partnership with the Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) and Technology Education New Zealand (TENZ). This year's competition highlights the critical role of teachers in developing design thinking skills, with teachers of winning entries receiving $1,000 from the prize pool. Julie Baker, Head of Education at MOTAT and Solve for Tomorrow judge, says recognising the contribution teachers make to student innovation was a key driver behind the change to prize allocation. 'We know just how influential teachers are in inspiring and guiding our tamariki, and this updated prize allocation is our way of giving back and recognising their incredible effort. Solve for Tomorrow is all about fostering creativity and real-world problem solving, and we're thrilled to now acknowledge the teachers who support students every step of the way.' Solve for Tomorrow 2025 offers a prize pool of $24,000 in cash and Samsung technology for winning students, their teachers, and schools. To enter, students must harness the power of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Maths) and design thinking to develop innovative solutions aimed at creating a brighter future for Aotearoa. Samsung is delighted to welcome back its VIP judging panel for 2025, featuring Dr Joel Rindelaub and Dr Siouxsie Wiles, alongside Sarah Washbrooke, Deputy Chair of TENZ, and Julie Baker. Dr Siouxsie Wiles is thrilled to return as a judge for the 2025 competition. 'Judging Solve for Tomorrow is genuinely one of the highlights of my year. I absolutely love seeing the creative, thoughtful ideas our tamariki come up with – it gives me so much hope for the future. Every entry is a reminder of how bright, curious, and capable our young people are, and I can't wait to see what this year's cohort brings to the table,' says Wiles. Gabriel Anthony and Logan Gardiner wowed the judges in the 2024 Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition with their inventive, community-focused solutions. Gabriel, a Year 8 student from Whitby Collegiate in Wellington, took out the Year 7 to 10 category with Pill Bot, an AI powered medication identifier designed to help visually impaired people, inspired by his grandmother's own experience. In the Year 11 to 13 category, Logan, a student at Burnside High School in Christchurch, impressed with Enviro Saver, a self-powered device engineered to clean rubbish and debris from local waterways. Simon Smith, Head of Brand Marketing at Samsung Electronics New Zealand, is looking forward to seeing what Kiwi students are working on for this year's competition. 'Last year's entries were truly outstanding. The creativity, passion and problem-solving shown by our young people was inspiring, and Samsung is incredibly proud to both host and champion a competition that celebrates Kiwi ingenuity. We have no doubt this year's students will continue to raise the bar.' Entries are now open for Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2025. All students in years 7 to 13 are invited to participate, either individually or in teams. Students who submit a project plan by 23 June 2025 can benefit from valuable feedback from our VIP judges to help refine their final entries and go in the draw to win a Samsung TV. Final submissions are due by 19 September 2025. Alternatively, if students have already developed an innovative solution as part of an existing school project, they are welcome to repurpose it and enter it now. The winning individual or team for Solve for Tomorrow 2025 will be announced prior to the awards ceremony on 30 October 2025.
