Innovative IT on display at trade show

Oct 21, 2005

A program that allows users to keep track of what CDs and DVD movies they have lent out to friends and family and the manipulation of a robot through a website were just some of many exciting projects on display yesterday (Thursday 20 October) when the next generation of Information Technology professionals showed off their skills at a trade show held at the University of Wollongong.

The software engineering projects had been developed by final year students from UOW's School of Information Technology and Computer Science (SITACS). The trade show was opened by Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Operations), Professor John Patterson, and featured a keynote address by Mr Paul Russell from IBM's OzLabs Research Centre in Canberra.

SITACS Head, Professor Philip Ogunbona, said final year students were required to work in teams to create projects for the trade show, and demonstrate them to industry representatives and the public.

"The students demonstrated their software engineering skills through this project, but they were also required to create websites and other marketing material to explain and promote what they had built," Professor Ogunbona said. "It was a really worthwhile exercise in preparing students for the workplace."

"The trade show each year also gives students the chance to impress industry representatives and prospective employers."

SITACS graduates from previous years are working for some of the world's biggest IT companies including Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, Network Appliance and IBM, or in IT roles with corporate leaders such as KPMG, Commonwealth Bank, Macquarie Bank and the National Australia Bank.

The annual trade show is a key annual event for SITACS, which is UOW's biggest school with in excess of 1200 students.

SITACS also has an international reputation for its strong research focus and associations with local, national and international industries, including BlueScope Steel, Telstra, Motorola, Apple, Pillar Insurance, Nortel, and the Directorate of Science and Security.