Yet another reason to celebrate innovation at AUT and the School of Future Environments

We’re thrilled to announce and congratulate Sara Bayandor and Dr Wei-in Chen on being selected for the KiwiNet Emerging Innovator Programme.

Sara, a PhD student in the School of Future Environments, is tackling sustainability by exploring sustainable substitutes for infrastructural soil support—a step towards smarter, greener construction.

Wei-an, a School of Future Environments lecturer, combines neuroscience and AI to design better-built spaces to support human well-being—blending data with architecture for smarter environments.

We also want to say "ngā mihi nui" to Cindy Luo, our Venture Programme Manager, for providing valuable guidance and support to Sara and Wei-an throughout the application and presentation process.

The KiwiNet Emerging Innovator Programme helps researchers bridge the gap between research and real-world impact, and we’re excited to see how Sara and Wei-an take their work to the next level!

Please join us in celebrating their success.