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Student engineers chase NZ human-powered land speed record

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Fri, 14 Nov 2025, 9:52am
Photo / Getty
Photo / Getty

Student engineers chase NZ human-powered land speed record

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Fri, 14 Nov 2025, 9:52am

Kiwi ingenuity at its finest coming out of the University of Canterbury. 

A group of engineering students believe they’ve set a New Zealand human-powered land speed record.  

Their three-wheeler, named Mako, hit 82.6km/h – entirely by pedal power.  

The record is expected to be confirmed by the International Human Powered Vehicle Association within a month.  

Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering Digby Symons told Mike Hosking it was done as part of a final year project in the department. 

He says some projects have students working on problems that come from companies, but some, like this one, have the students addressing a challenge they set themselves. 

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