Are you interested in finding innovative new developments, or optimizing products or processes for your business but lack the time to research them yourself? 

Enlist the help of talented students from the University of Auckland! 

The Department of Mechanical & Mechatronics Engineering offers support for R&D projects with varying focuses and timelines, for example: 

•  Process, product or design optimisation as part of a final year student project (project duration – eight months) 
•  Analysis of whether new technology, such as Industry 4.0, is beneficial for your own company (project duration – three months) 
•  Process or product optimisation as part of a doctoral thesis (project duration – three years) 

We always analyse the company’s needs first and then propose a suitable R&D project. In our team, we have experts who understand the needs of industry partners, speak their language and establish the link to academic research. To be successful, we employ experts knowledgeable in a wide range of areas who supervise and guide our students in the projects. This is the most cost-effective approach to boost your R&D capabilities. 

To give you an idea about a final year student project, here is an example from last year, which was carried out together with the company SEQUAL: 

Project title: “Digital fingerprint of wood boards for tracking and product quality characterisation“ 

Video (5min.):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMvcR5o68ds 

This project involved 2 students and 1 supervisor.  

Introduction: SEQUAL are providers of dimensionally cut pine boards. Their custom cut approach provides high variability in the production line. 

Goal:  SEQUAL wanted to be able to track their boards from when they are cut to after they are individually extracted, to better estimate how many boards result from each log. They also wanted an automated method of finding board defects, as well as a method of estimating how much of the board is clear of defects.  

Result: Our team was able to find an innovative solution that added value and insight to SEQUAL’s production line.  Click on the video link above for an in-depth explanation of how the team was able to meet all of this company’s goals.     

Displaying projects 

All students present their final year projects on ‘Display Day.’  Here is a short video about final-year student projects in general and the Display Day 2022.