Lery Wongsonegoro

Lery Wongsonegoro as one of New Zealand's alumni can truly say that he has broadly experienced the New Zealand education system. Leaving Jakarta in 1989 he completed his Year 10 at Wellington High School, and then went on to Onslow College to complete his Secondary School education.

A summer bridging course in Chemistry at Massey University led him first into his Bachelor of Technology with Honours, and later a Masters of Technology with Honours.

Since returning to Indonesia, he has been developing his career with PNM Techno Venture, a technology-focused venture capital investment company, where he is in charge of developing IT-based applications for micro-finance institutions scattered all over Indonesia. (He was recently promoted to the role of Assistant Director Business Development.) In his own words, "the majority of my work involves meeting people with big ideas or newly developed and innovative technology."

Lery has been able to directly apply the knowledge and skills - both academically and practically - he learnt at Massey within his job context. The people skills you (Massey University) taught us were valuable and I must say that ability to learn (and to unlearn) is highly crucial to be able to adapt to any situation. The door knocking exercise and negotiations that I was involved with during the course of Rapid Technology Development Services were most valuable as sometimes my work requires me to act as an analyst for would-be entrepreneurs."

In addition, his Massey University qualification has given him the foundation to commence pre-doctorate studies at Institut Teknologi Bandung. This is typical of the way New Zealand tertiary programmes - based on the British system - provide an easy transition into programmes around the globe.