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Managing Massive Mission Critical Video for First Responders
Tait Communications, alongside shareholders the Tait Foundation and Contel Charitable Trust, proudly maintains its strong relationship with the University of Canterbury, ranked among the top 250 universities globally for Engineering and Technology. This collaboration reflects a shared commitment to fostering innovation and talent in Christchurch.
Last year, Tait sponsored two Final Year Engineering Projects at the university and hosted a field trip for participants in the 2024–25 Summer Startup Programme, offering students a firsthand look at our facilities and insights from our experts. Additionally, the Contel Charitable Trust supported a portion of the Summer Startup cohort through dedicated funding.
Electrical Engineering Project Mentored by Lead Design Engineer Dr. Alan Murray, a team of five students developed an advanced monitoring application to detect vehicle collisions and driver fatigue, aimed at enhancing safety in the mining sector. Among the group was Tait’s own Test Analyst, Nissa Absalom , who received the Best Emerging Engineering Talent Award at the recent End-of-Year Awards.
Software Engineering Project Engineering Manager – Software James Collett , and Lead Design Engineer Wei Li Jiang, guided student Kane Xie in exploring a solution to ensure the reliability of voice services on Tait PTToX devices. Kane developed a tool to verify that each Push-to-Talk (PTT) action resulted in a fully successful call, with all participants included and audio packets transmitted without errors.
Across both projects, Tait staff and academic supervisors provided expert guidance, helping students tackle challenges and deliver impactful outcomes. The students demonstrated exceptional technical skills, problem-solving capabilities, and a collaborative approach that were integral to the success of their projects. Their work highlights the potential for significant contributions to Tait’s future innovations, particularly in data-driven decision-making and the adoption of cutting-edge technologies.
Special Recognition: Kane Xie
Kane Xie, the Software Engineering project participant, is now building on his final-year work as a Summer Intern at Tait. His internship focuses on adapting the developed tool for real-time operation on a PTToX system, enhancing its functionality for production use, and expanding its capabilities to meet operational needs.
As part of the University of Canterbury’s Summer Startup Programme, students visited Tait for a behind-the-scenes look at our innovation journey. They explored our origins, engineering and design processes, customer discovery methods, and delivery strategies.
The session, presented by Product Manager – Unified Solutions Dion Stevenson , UX Team Leader Rodney Mackrell , and James Collett, engaged students across disciplines and academic levels. Tait staff were highly impressed by the quality of the questions and praised the group’s enthusiasm, calling it a pleasure to present to such an engaged audience.
