Empower Te Rangapikikōtuku Coding and Esports Festival

On 25th August 16 students from Westland and Greymouth High Schools travelled to Blenheim for an event formed to inspire young people to learn more about the world of coding, and showcase pathways into further study and employment across a range of businesses and industries.

The students were not disappointed. During the weekend they got to hear from industry experts from Skills VR, Ariki Creative and Regal Salmon about everything from website design to aqua-bots (under-water robots).

Students had the opportunity to learn how to code a robot, design a virtual reality app in Unity, challenge Esport legends, and talk to people who have built careers in gaming and tech industry.

The two-day event hosted free workshops for students, E-sport tournaments, trade stands, and Q&A sessions with industry leaders.  Workshops were divided into five separate streams, highlighting the career diversity of the sector:

• CGI / Creative Design
• Robotics and Mechatronics
• Website and App Design + AR/VR
• Minecraft
• Esports and Gaming

Check out the photos to see students trying Rocket League Esports and using the Regal Salmon Aqua-bot.

We would like to say a huge thank you to Te Rūnanga a Rangitāne o Wairau Trust for hosting us at Ūkaipō. We really enjoyed our stay.