Our tutors are the heart of Toi Ohomai and whānaungatanga is part of everything we do here. As students of Toi Ohomai, you’ll feel a sense of family, of welcome.

Our friendly learning spaces and smaller class sizes will give you confidence as you gain new skills that will lead you into the future, and our tutors will be there for you every step of the way.

Your success is what we’re all about!

  • Elena Marais

    Elena Marais

    School of Health, Education and Environment


    Elena joined Toi Ohomai in 2021 and teaches across a range of subjects, including freshwater ecology, waste management, terrestrial invertebrates, and research design and methodology. She enjoys helping students connect theory with real-world practice, particularly during field-based learning and student research projects.

    Elena holds a… Read full profile

  • Nick Ririnui

    Nick Ririnui

    School of Design, Innovation and Service Industries


    Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology Academic Staff Member, Nick Ririnui, is a music educator with over 20 years’ experience teaching musical performance and production, drumming and percussion.

    Nick joined our institute in 2013, and currently teaches subjects within our New Zealand Diploma in Music (Level 5) and New Zealand Certificate of… Read full profile

  • Francisco De Abreu Roldao

    Francisco De Abreu Roldao

    School of Te Kura Māori, Pathways, Business and IT


    Francisco De Abreu Roldao holds a Bachelor's and Master's in Computer Science and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Psychology from the University of Auckland. He has extensive experience in the IT industry, including his current role as an IT Applications Manager.

    Francisco's speciality is mentoring students in Project Management and… Read full profile

  • Bruce Tuhakaraina

    Bruce Tuhakaraina

    School of Te Kura Māori, Pathways, Business and IT


    Bruce Tuhakaraina is a passionate educator with over eight years’ experience teaching software and web development at tertiary level. Bruce specialises in fostering student engagement through innovative, practical learning experiences. His expertise includes teaching Levels 3 to 7 in programming and web development.

    With a Bachelor of… Read full profile

  • Que Bidois

    Quinton Bidois

    School of Design, Innovation and Service Industries


    At Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology, Quinton Bidois (Ngai Te Rangi, Ngāti Tapu and Ngati- Ranginui Pirirakau) teaches Visual Arts - one of the three majors offered as part of our Bachelor of Creative Industries degree. 

    Born and raised in Tauranga Moana, Quinton is a highly-respected figure in the local arts community, and is… Read full profile

  • Mel Paton

    Mel Paton

    School of Trades


    Swapping the boardroom for greener pastures 

    After growing up on a farm and building a career in advertising, Mel Paton’s love for the outdoors and a desire to help her son’s eczema led her back to her roots. 

    Mel grew up in Rāhui Pōkeka (Huntly), and her attraction to the advertising industry was to turn boring,… Read full profile

  • Riley Claxton

    Riley Claxton

    School of Design, Innovation and Service Industries


    Riley mainly teaches the graphic design courses at Toi Ohomai and specialises in teaching techniques and design skills for Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. He finds this very rewarding and looks forward to meeting students and helping them to reach their creative goals.

    Riley is also a bit of an all-rounder and has taught many different… Read full profile

  • Kaveeta DuttKaveeta Dutt

    Kaveeta Dutt

    School of Te Kura Māori, Pathways, Business and IT


    Kaveeta Dutt is the Programme Manager for the Postgraduate programmes at Toi Ohomai. Study areas include Management (Business, Health, or Hospitality), Applied Professional Studies (Mentoring and Leadership, or Adult Teaching) and Applied Science (Biodiversity Management).

    Kaveeta has a Master of Education from the University of Otago, a… Read full profile

  • Robert Flores

    Robert Flores

    School of Te Kura Māori, Pathways, Business and IT


    Robert teaches computing and IT courses at Toi Ohomai, skilled in Wide Area Network (WAN), Local Area Network (LAN), Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP), Voice over IP (VoIP) and Network Management

    His goal is to ensure graduates are prepared for a wealth of opportunities in the information technology sector once they… Read full profile

  • Murray Foote

    Murray Foote

    School of Te Kura Māori, Pathways, Business and IT


    Murray teaches computing and IT at Toi Ohomai, particularly topics related to business structures and operations, human and computational systems interfacing, artificial intelligence for information acquisition and analysis.

    He completed a Master of Computing at Unitec in 2008 and his current research activity is design and… Read full profile