We’re excited to have Student Intern John Cole join us on a project we’ve partnered with Pūhoro STEM Academy on.
The project is looking to investigate the interface between Mātauranga Māori and Construction 4.0.
Construction 4.0 is the application of Industry 4.0 technologies and approaches in Construction.
Mātauranga Māori* included knowledge and wisdom understood and handed down from generation to generation. It existed from time before Tāne-nui-a-rangi asended the heavens and received the three baskets of knowledge:
- Te Kete Tuāuri (ritual knowledge);
- Te Kete Tuāutea (eternal knowledge); and
- Te Kete Aronui (secular knoweledge).
The relationship between each Kete highlighted that knowledge is not isolated, and that in order to make sense of an idea or though, it may require parts from each Kete.
Leading this work is University of Auckland student, John Cole, through an internship funded by HERA. John is currently studying Engineering and Law.
John heralds from Ngāti Koroki as a hapū of Ngāti Raukawa ki te Tonga. His ancestors landed with many others in the Waka Tainui, but split from the larger Ngāti Raukawa iwi as part of migrations led by Te Rauparaha of Ngāti Toa Rangatira. John’s marae is the Raukawa marae in Ōtaki.
John’s investigations are being supervised by Mahonri Owen, Kaihautu- Te Urunga Pae, with Pūhoro STEM Academy. John will also be supported by the wider Kaihautu team at Pūhoro.
As far as we are aware, this is the first time the interface between Mātauranga Māori and Construction 4.0 has been investigated. This will lead to some valuable insights and recommendations for future work. We are also really hoping that this will lead to a bilingual publication of the research results and break ground for more meaningful engagement with Māori in Engineering.
“Construction 4.0 is an emerging field that HERA has taken an interest in. This provides an opportunity to start out with a more inclusive approach… to start out in a new way and with broader thinking than we would typically apply to a new endeavour. We are very excited to have this opportunity to partner with Pūhoro STEM Academy and invest in developing new ways of doing research, in partnership. There is certainly a lot of Māori knowledge that is being missed in the typical research process and it is a failure of the prevailing research paradigm that indigenous knowledge is typically under-utilised or unacknowledged, says HERA CEO Troy Coyle“.
*He Papa Tikanga Ta Ao Whānui Study Guide, Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.
