I've worked in the electrical sector (everything from electronics to high voltage) for most of my life. I started in quality assurance, moving to type testing in a laboratory and then to designing electrical appliances. From there it was a natural progression to project managing new product development. This was followed by a long stint managing high voltage infrastructure builds on the Transpower and Orion networks. My last gig was a big step sideways to Ministry of Awesome (a startup incubator in Otautahi, Christchurch) where I was the Operations Manager and ran the day-to-day operations.
I thought an MBA degree would help my career progression towards the apex of any organisation. People I knew who had completed an MBA degree, suggested that an in-person programme would be more valuable due to the live interactions with fellow students. UC (where I read my undergrad), was the obvious choice as I live in Christchurch.
Definitely the laughs during assignments. Many were with Ian Satterthwaite. You know you’re part of the family when their dog no longer barks when you walk in. I also got a real kick out of doing a paper with Steve Thomas – a very old friend from our hedonistic undergrad days.