For ITP research, working in collaboration or partnership plays a key role in improving learners’ capabilities and community involvement. This paper consisted of two showcases presenting how engineering education helps learners and communities. The first showcase is the cross-disciplinary engineering project, which is a fully interactive model that has user input producing tangible output to help learners understand the concept of engineering principles. The Exercycle is designed
to have the user input of mechanical rotational energy by pedalling. From the gear train, mechanical input is transferred to the pump where the user input converts to the optimal pump operating speed. Water gets then pumped from the lower reservoir to the upper
reservoir gaining potential energy.
Water then flows back to the lower reservoir via a micro-hydro generator. It results in electrical energy in the power bank which can be used to charge a digital device. The second showcase is to improve transport accessibility
for the community, specifically older people those aged over 65 living in rural and small towns by proposing a user optimised public transport service. The students involved in this study investigated the choices of individual elderly citizens over various
mode choice options and the critical components of active transport service in Waikato. The results were supporting the demands for a new transport service in NZ rural and small-towns and justified where the elderly life restricts the mode of transport used due to socio-demographics, travel behaviours and the characteristics of mobility such as modal affordability, accessibility, and availability.