HIT Lab NZ Ltd has designs on Europe

Published by the Communications and Development Department

 

4 November 2004

 

The University of Canterbury’s human-computer interface research partnership with the Canterbury Development Corporation and the University of Washington has developed a new education exchange programme which will enable New Zealand students to study interaction design in Europe.

Interaction design generally deals with improving the interfaces between machinery and people and the future focus is on accessing digital technology.

Details of the new pilot programme, “Leonardo: A multi-national exploration in Interaction Design education and research”, have been announced by the Associate Education Minister (Tertiary Education) Steve Maharey.

HIT Lab NZ Ltd has developed the three-year programme with Waikato University, the Wanganui School of Design, the Universities of Lancaster and Nottingham in the UK, the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia and the Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences.

At least 24 New Zealand students and a similar number of European post-graduates will take part in the exchange programme.

 

Steve Maharey says it will enable New Zealand students to bring home valuable international knowledge.

“If New Zealand is to be a birthplace of world-changing people and ideas, we need to provide more opportunities for our emerging knowledge leaders to interact with other leading thinkers from around the world.”

The government is contributing $200,000 annually for three years to the pilot programme.

New Zealand students who take part will visit no less than two of the programme’s four EU partner institutions and spend up to a year in Europe.

 

For further information please contact:

John MacDonald
Communications Manager
University of Canterbury

Tel: +64-3-364 2910
Fax: +64-3-364 2679
Mob: +64-27-441 7280
john.macdonald@canterbury.ac.nz