The Learning Quarter
Introduction |
Benefits |
Location |
The plan |
Projects |
Features
Features
Technology and Fashion
- the beginnings of a new friendship
Technology and Fashion - the beginnings of a new friendship
When Zephyr Technology first started making personal electronic monitoring equipment it didn't occur to them that this could be knitted or sewn into garments. It took a call from AUT University's Textile and Design
Lab to show this Auckland-founded company that technology, textiles and fashion were partners.
Zephyr, founded in Auckland in 2003 and recently expanded to the USA, makes physiological monitoring equipment. The electronics allow athletes, sports people, the military and others to remotely monitor vital signs such as breathing, temperature and heartbeat. Up to 64 people can be monitored at once, and amongst Zephyr's clients are leading US sports teams.
Traditionally, monitoring devices have been strapped onto the body, tightly fitted. But AUT's Textile and Design
Lab thought there was another, more functional and fashionable way. They suggested that technology could be sewn or knitted into garments. Fashionable fabrics such as merino could be used.
AUT's Textile and Design Lab acts as a research and development centre for fashion and the creative industries. It has sophisticated knitting machines and digital printing technology that are unique in New Zealand, and the
Lab is the only one of its kind in Australasia.
Capable of small-scale production and working with clients to refine products and integrate technology into garments, the
lab produced a number of prototypes for Zephyr.
"They integrated sensors into shirts," says Zephyr's Stephen Kent. "This was the first time we'd put our technology into clothes. We were a technology company; and we didn't know about textile experts until then."
Electronics and fashion proved a beguiling mix for both organisations. The result has been that Zephyr employed an AUT fashion graduate to work alongside them in their research and development area in Auckland. The rest of the company moved to Maryland, USA, where its main business is located.
"When we started out we had no idea we'd have a garment designer working full time with us," says Mr Kent.
"But the area of fashion and electronics is so vast and has so many possibilities. Engineers and fashion designers don't usually mix. Yet here we are working together."
Peter Heslop, AUT's Textile and Design Laboratory Manager says the future of fashion and electronics is just beginning.
"Conductive yarns can be knitted or woven into fabrics now," he says. The
Lab is exploring the possibilities with such technology.
The Lab is a jewel in AUT University's crown, and has its headquarters in the CBD
- right in the heart of the Learning Quarter. Aside from its groundbreaking work with Zephyr, AUT University's Textile and Design
Lab has also worked with a New Zealand healthcare manufacturer to develop a more comfortable, aesthetically pleasing version of an existing respiratory product, intended to appear less daunting to patients' families.
Filmmakers, set and costume designers and New Zealand's premier fashion designers also find their way to the
Lab's door. It is renowned in the creative industries for producing prototypes, samples and one-off designs.
Find out more about The Learning Quarter.
Young enterprise scheme finals hosted at Auckland Town Hall
John Banks with St Mary's College student business, Little Steps
It was the great German economist Joseph Schumpeter that first proposed the importance of entrepreneurs in an economy. As Schumpeter explains, these ones with
"fiery souls" or "spirits" grow the economy through a "gale of creative destruction", as old technologies make way for the new. Entrepreneurs have navigated nations through a sea of technological change over the last 200 years to create the modern society.
The Young Enterprise Scheme aims to develop these fiery souls, with phenomenal support structures, including professional development, mentoring and exposure to the private sector. In doing this, students are driven to be creative and innovate in an attempt to create sustainable business models for their products.
This year's Auckland Central Orals Finals were held in the reception lounge of the Auckland Town Hall in front of a 220 supporters. 10 aspiring business groups representing an array of schools across Auckland central fought it out for top place.
The teams brought an admirable level of enthusiasm and competency, which bodes very well for the future of Auckland business.
Product ideas included e-tagging - solar powered LED advertising, laptop 'skins', and Pooperloop, an inexpensive and hands-free accessory for dog owners.
Businesses were judged on a range of competencies, including marketing strategy, business concept, production chains and overall presentation.
Needless to say, the competition was fierce, with the top seven teams separated by no more than a few points.
Little Steps, a student company from St Mary's College took out first place, for their illustrated children's book, targeting youth obesity and encouraging healthier living.
The event was not only a showcase of the superb business talent hidden amongst our schooling community, but also provided a fantastic example of public private sector collaboration in the Auckland region in developing a truly worthwhile event.
Town meets gown - a plan for Auckland's Learning Quarter
Across the globe, leading cities are forming partnerships with universities to drive development and economic prosperity. Here in Auckland city, AUT University, The University of Auckland and Auckland City Council have joined forces to make Auckland's Learning Quarter a world-class centre for education, research and commercialisation. Never before in New Zealand have town and gown come together on such a scale to help shape local and national development.
Home to two of the country's large research-led universities, the Learning Quarter is one of the most significant destinations in Auckland city. On a daily basis over 40,000 staff and students travel to the universities making it the largest travelling population to a single place in the country. A study of The University of Auckland's economic contribution to the Auckland region revealed that in 2005, total direct expenditure impact of the university, its staff and its students was $1.34 billion. If The University of Auckland did not exist, the region would miss out on $662m of direct capital spending.
Recent and future capital investment by the partners in the Learning Quarter is sizeable and indicative of the future standard of developments that will make the Learning Quarter a world-class destination for learning, research and business. Over the next 10 years, the universities will deliver the best of architecture, design and technology to support quality teaching, learning and research and attract top staff and students. The University of Auckland will invest in excess of $1 billion to refurbish and redevelop its city campus and AUT University plans major capital expenditure on its city campus of approximately $150-$200m. Recent investment by the council in and around the Learning Quarter has included the Central Connector, an upgrade of Albert Park and the Auckland Art Gallery redevelopment. The Learning Quarter has the potential to be one of the city centre's most stimulating and prominent visitor destinations for its rich heritage, award-winning facilities, civic buildings, libraries, theatre, art galleries and parks.
As New Zealand's knowledge centre the Learning Quarter has the largest cluster of students, researchers, teachers, innovators and creators in the country. Year after year, the value of university research continues to grow with externally funded research at The University of Auckland totalling $190.6m in 2008, up 45.1 per cent on 2004 figures. Commercial research activities at The University of Auckalnd's UniServices totalled $97.2m. Last year, AUT University was awarded $15.3m of research funding, up 29 per cent from 2007. The universities also continue to play an important role in incubating start-up businesses. Since the establishment of the ICEHOUSE (The University of Auckland's business incubator) and AUT's
Business Innovation Centre, the universities have worked with over 1,050 businesses and raised over $70m in funding.
The Learning Quarter partnership has achieved a number of successes to date including a better understanding between the partners of how their core activities can be harnessed to assist economic development in the city. The Learning Quarter Plan developed by the partners, with support from
Committee for Auckland, marks a significant milestone for the partnership. The plan expresses a common vision for the Learning Quarter and how the partners will work together to guide and help drive economic, social, cultural and physical development in the area over the next 10 years. The plan articulates a number of outcomes:
- making it easier for businesses to engage with the quarter and access research, development and resources
- supporting research strengths and showcasing innovation and creativity
- improving connections to, from and within the Learning Quarter
- creating welcoming public spaces as points of arrival and connection in the quarter
- reviewing the regulatory framework in relation to university master planning, the mix of uses in the area and to balance business and resident needs
- developing a heritage trail for the quarter to raise awareness of its history and heritage features.
The Learning Quarter covers 63 hectares within the CBD. It is a vibrant place exemplified by significant heritage buildings, open spaces, rich cultural assets, a diverse range of events, businesses and a growing residential community.
View the Learning Quarter map (422Kb) PDF
Published June 2010
