Trust Horizon boosts scholarship to support Engineering student with electrical career
(left to right) Feng Wu, Horizon Networks General Manager; Alex Macdonald, scholarship recipient; Derek Caudwell, Trust Horizon Chief Executive.
Alex Macdonald has always been fascinated by power and energy production.
A passion that persisted through school, and on leaving Alex chose to pursue a Bachelor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (Honours) at the University of Canterbury.
Recently, Alex was awarded a Trust Horizon & Aruhiko – Power Engineering Excellence Trust (PEET) scholarship to assist him with his studies.
In 2022, Trust Horizon partnered with PEET, a not-for-profit organisation that works to ensure a pipeline of power engineering talent, to offer an annual $10k scholarship pool for up to three students studying electrical and electronic engineering at either University of Canterbury or University of Auckland.
To be eligible, students needed to originate from the Eastern Bay of Plenty.
There was one successful applicant from Trust Horizon’s region in the scholarship round this year – Alex Macdonald. The Trustees agreed to a one-off increase of the standard $3k scholarship to a total of $10k.
The news came as a welcome surprise to Alex. “I'm extremely grateful for Trust Horizon’s continued generosity and am absolutely over the moon right now!” he says.
“Scholarships for Eastern Bay students studying electrical and electronic engineering have been available from the Trust for nearly 20 years, with the programme contributing over $488,000 towards their tertiary study,” says Trust Horizon trustee Merrin Stables.
“The world will always need energy to power our lives, so the Trust is proud to be able to help young people pursue successful careers in the electricity industry, ultimately growing the Eastern Bay’s future workforce.”
In 2023, Alex will be undertaking his third year of the BE(Hons).
“Not only does receiving this award relieve a heavy burden off mine and my parents’ shoulders, but it shows the effort and diligence I have put into my academics has paid off and been recognised,” says Alex.
“Ever since I was a young lad, energy has fascinated me. For my intermediate science fair project, I created a model house that ran off every sustainable energy imaginable. It had a windmill, solar panels, a water wheel, and even a geothermal steam turbine.”
Now, Alex is inspired by the potential of hydrogen power and nuclear fusion, which he believes would be “a revolution in the power industry” if efficiently harnessed, as well as wireless power distribution. “In achieving this, we could transmit power to cruise ships or other offshore sites such as Stewart Island,” he says.
“By gaining this scholarship, I feel like I’m one step closer towards being able to work in these fields, and thus achieving my dreams.”
To gain further experience and learning opportunities, Alex is currently completing a summer internship at Horizon Networks which is proudly 100% owned by Trust Horizon.
“I’m not even halfway through the internship and I’ve already learned a vast amount about the distribution of power and the framework that surrounds it. This internship has given me my first experience in the power industry, and there’s no better place than home to do it.”
Start here to learn more about how we create career pathways with our scholarships.