 Since 2012, the Master of Commercialisation and Entrepreneurship has provided an opportunity for working professionals to take a part-time education that enables them to become valued specialists in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The University of Auckland put this course together because of the importance of commercialisation and entrepreneurism. There's a world of innovation, but New Zealand is a special place in that world. So that difference means that we've got to interpret those global tools into something that's unique in terms of a capability for New Zealand. So that's why we decided that we had to have a course like this which is specially designed for New Zealand conditions. The programme is not only providing the right toolbox, it's also about providing the right network. We know research commercialisation is a contact sport and without knowing and having access to the right people, we can't achieve anything. The University of Auckland has a great network so we're able to attract some of the best entrepreneurial skill sets and individuals from around New Zealand to come in and spend time with us in the class in a very interactive way. We have past graduates of the course who have gone on to start new companies and they come back and tell us about their voyage from idea to value creation. Wine Grenade story started about two and a half years ago when the five founders of Wine Grenade kicked off a master of commercialisation and entrepreneurship project through the University of Auckland and in the two years since we we wrapped up the project and we incorporated Wine Grenade, what we've done is brought to market a really high-tech portable device which winemakers can use to accurately deliver small amounts of oxygen into their wine. I chose to take part in this programme because I wanted to learn the pathways from innovation to commercialisation. I want to learn how to create value through innovation coming from a science background. I had a very limited knowledge in accounts, finance and marketing and other aspects of business. My brain was just full of questions. We actually do all the way from where do ideas come from, what drives an idea, what's the mentality of innovation and then capturing those special thoughts, focusing them down to some value proposition and then building a business plan, a structure, a mechanism around the idea to achieve the value that's potentially there. We also put a lot of emphasis on how to apply the toolbox so all the assignments throughout the programme will be related to real-life problems and how to use the tools and how to make use of the network. The other part of the learning experience here is that we have business people or budding entrepreneurs with shared interests but different backgrounds sitting in the same room and actively exchanging experiences and insights that enrich the learning experience and create a super valuable network. It affected my career very positively and I just got a promotion from an R&D chemist to research and innovation manager just after finishing the programme and it's definitely spring-bound of my career. After finishing the programme I got a real clear pathway of my career and now I know what to do in future and I'm driving my career towards that. The Master of Commercialisation and Entrepreneurship equips you with the exact skills that you need in order to give life to a company and to bring groundbreaking, world-leading technologies to market.