What our students say
Angeline Yeoh, BCST third year
I am an international student and wanted to study in Australia and experience a different lifestyle. Sydney is very multicultural and I have made friends from all around the world. The lifestyle in Australia is very different and it has been a great experience for me to live here.
I became interested in programming at high school, and decided to pursue IT at university and I am working towards a career in software development. I chose the University of Sydney because it has a very good international reputation and the BCST degree was a good fit for my interests and future goals. I like that I can specialise in IT, but I can also study other areas that interest me. Over the course of my degree, I have taken units in languages, engineering, business and architecture in addition to IT.
Christina Yum, Honours
Vacation scholar
I chose to pursue an Honours degree at the University of Sydney because of the calibre of the staff and relevance of the research being produced. My honours project will give a holistic view of personal task management, understanding how individuals and teams manage what they need to do, and understanding how software tools can aid this process. I was recently awarded an Apple University Consortium Honours Scholarship for this project.
I am an Information Systems student and I am interested in applications of technology to solve individual and organisational problems, and how this technology is then adopted and used. I believe that amazing technologies exist with great potential to enrich our lives and improve organisations but without a human-focused approach, many of these will never be realised by the majority of the population.
Over summer, I was also able to work as a vacation scholar at Sydney Uni assisting with a trial of a communication system for elderly people. Through connections made in this experience, I also gained a casual job with a technology consulting firm which I’m balancing with my studies.
Honestly, coming out of high school I had no idea what I wanted to do at uni. My preferences were all over the place, including physiotherapy, as well as law, business and pharmacy. I chose an IT course because it provides opportunities to apply your knowledge to different industries, domains and problems. Also, since technology is always changing, I know my career will be dynamic and hold my interest.
James Somers, BCST (Adv) second year
I chose to study the BCST Advanced at Sydney so that I could engage with like-minded individuals who are as passionate and driven towards success as I am. Often it’s not the material but the people around you who majorly influence your motivation to compete, helping to expand your mind with new concepts and perspectives. This ultimately creates fun, challenges and friends that will last you a lifetime.
I’m interested in game development and the BCST Advanced enables me to pursue subjects which are directly related to the graphics fields that supplement my own personal research in the area. The university also has strong relationships with many of the top universities around the world through their exchange program. I’m currently applying to complete my final year of study overseas which has been made possible by strong support and encouragement of the university staff.
Mitchell Weiss, BIT/BCom second year
I chose the BIT/BCom because I was interested in both areas, and by combining degrees I kept my options open. It meant I didn’t have to choose between IT and commerce, and I will have more career options at the end of my degree.
The mix of subjects is good, I like taking an IT subject followed by a commerce subject, it keeps it fresh and interesting. The commerce subjects are theoretical, whereas IT has a mix of theoretical and practical, you learn the principles of IT and work on real world problems at the same time.
University is demanding, but it is rewarding, I can see how I will benefit from what I am learning in the future. I like the freedom too, it is much less restrictive than high school.
Stephen Merity, BIT second year
2008 recipient of the Microsoft Research Asia Scholarship in IT
I had quite an early exposure to the University of Sydney when I attended a high school program, the National Computer Science School, in year eleven. From that I made a lot of new friends and was introduced to academic staff working in interesting areas of computer science. I decided the School of IT was the kind of place I wanted to be. I have worked with computers since a young age and have always loved IT – it is the modern technical revolution and the whole world reflects every advance made in the field. There are so many more advances left to be discovered and I want to be a part of that.
The Microsoft Research Asia scholarship has really helped with the finances of studying at university. I can focus a great deal more of my time on the academic side of my life than when my next pay check is coming in. The scholarship is also a great opportunity to develop links with one of the leading computer science research companies in the world. An internship at Microsoft Research Asia is a really exciting prospect - they’re at the forefront of a number of fields and I feel that I’d learn a great deal being embedded in that sort of atmosphere.
The University of Sydney offers a wide variety of learning, research, scholarship and vocational opportunities available to students who are willing to pursue them. I’ve been extremely interested in natural language processing, or attempting to understand human language with computers, since I first came to university. At the end of my first year I was offered a Summer (Vacation) Scholarship which allowed me to pursue this interest. I was able to work on a research project over the summer break, with a distinguished group of academics who are making strides in the field. It gave me a view of what my later years in university would be like, and even now in second year I’m considering what I could be working on for my honours research project!
IT is has extremely versatile applications across all fields, and because of that there will always be new and challenging problems to be encountered. For example, computational linguistics, computational biology, computational economics. The general case being computational X, where X is a field. There’s just an endless range of possibilities!
Jonathan Kummerfeld, BSc (Adv) Honours
I’m in the final year of my degree, a Bachelor of Science (Advanced) Honours, and my research project for this year is in Artificial Intelligence, in particular, extending a program from the field of Natural Linguistics Processing to learn from its own output.
One of the great things about IT is that it is not an isolated field, and at Sydney I have been able to study Physics and Chemistry right through my degree. This meant I had the skills in second year to complete a project in Cheminformatics, (combine computing techniques with chemistry problems and you’ve got the gist of it), the results of which were published in the ‘Journal of Physical Chemistry’.
This ability to use the new techniques in IT to tackle the great unsolved questions in the physical sciences is one of the reasons I find the field of IT so fascinating and exciting.
During my degree I’ve also been able to experience an amazing range of activities outside my course, including the university orchestras, athletics club, revues, programming competitions, musicals, annual balls, and more. I think these opportunities are an essential part of university life, and I’ve only scratched the surface of the huge array offered at Sydney.
Georgina Wilcox, BSc (Adv) third year
I hadn’t done any programming at high school and when I got to uni my main focus was on maths. I enrolled in maths, chemistry and physics units, and I needed an extra advanced subject. After speaking to an IT lecturer at enrolment I decided to try the advanced informatics unit.
I liked informatics a lot more than I expected! Programming is so much more accessible than I thought. I was surprised at how much I could do after just a few weeks, but also found it really challenging. After first year I changed my focus to maths and IT.
I have had the opportunity to work as a tutor at NCSS and the Girls’ Programming Network. These programmes really reinforce how accessible IT is. For example, at GPN last term we started off teaching basics of programming in Python, but by the end of the term we were helping the girls write chatbots. A chatbot is a kind of artificial intelligence program that pretends to talk to you over the internet. On top of that students get a taste of what university is like, which I think is a valuable experience that will help in the long run.
Ben Taylor, BIT third year
President of SUITS and 2007 MRA Scholarship recipient
At high school I was focused on getting into an Engineering degree. I had studied programming at school and found it really boring, but then in year eleven I attended the National Computer Science School, and my opinion of IT changed completely! I saw that it was fun and challenging, and realised that IT skills could be applied to any field. I was attracted to the flexibility of the degrees at Sydney Uni, and over the past three years I have been able to study programming and pursue other subjects that interested me, like mechatronics and electrical engineering.
I moved from northern NSW to attend uni so joining SUITS made it easier to meet new people, and make lots of friends. Since first year SUITS has really grown, we do bbqs every week, and lots of activities like trivia nights, board games and even outdoor games in the park.
In Year 12, I started looking for scholarships. I fit the criteria for the Microsoft Research Asia Scholarship, so I applied, and after a phone interview I was awarded the scholarship! I feel very lucky, it has helped me meet living costs in Sydney during my degree, and has paid for ALL my textbooks, which is a bonus!
Katie Bell, BIT Honours, University Medal (‘09)
Software Engineer, Google
I decided to submit a portfolio application just in case my UAI didn’t meet the cut-off for the Advanced level degrees. I think the portfolio is great because it allows computing or programming experience to be taken into account when you apply for University as well as your academic marks. My application was fairly straight forward, I just included samples of the work I had done as part of my Software Design and Development class at school and a letter from my teacher. On the basis of this, I was accepted to the BIT degree, even though my UAI was below the cut-off.
I have found the degree challenging - I was surprised by the sheer volume of stuff I didn’t know! At school I wasn’t sure that uni would teach me practical IT skills. I knew it would give me a solid theoretical base, but I thought would have to develop practical skills myself. I was wrong, you get a complete experience, learning both the theory and applying the theory in practice. At university you are not just skimming the surface - you get down and dirty, to a level that I haven’t seen anywhere else.
What our staff say
Dr Irena Koprinska, Senior Lecturer
Recipient of the Faculty of Engineering & IT award for outstanding teaching in 2008
Having worked in research positions I appreciate the chance to teach and I count contact with students as one of the perks of my job. I see teaching as a partnership between the students and me. My role is to facilitate learning by creating an appropriate environment which inspires and engages students, and also by being well prepared, knowledgeable, approachable and responsive. I aim to promote problem solving skills, critical thinking and independent learning, which are especially important in the constantly changing field of IT. Seeing students learn and also learning from them (we have many amazing students!) is part of what makes my job worthwhile and interesting.
Some of the courses I teach are in my research area, e.g. Artificial Intelligence and Data Mining, and they are my favourite to develop and teach. No, these courses are not about science fiction movies, supernatural or magical things but about algorithms...which I think are also magical! Some recent assignments my colleagues and I have set include writing computer programs to solve puzzles or play games, or to automatically learn to filter spam from non-spam email. The students doing these courses are awesome - smart, creative and eager to learn. I encourage them to aim high. I also love working with research students - each project is a trip to explore new lands and find hidden treasures; interesting, exciting and unpredictable!
My research is in the areas of Machine Learning and Data Mining. This involves developing algorithms that make computers automatically learn and improve from previous experience, or find hidden and interesting patterns in data. One collaborative project focuses on brain-computer interfaces, e.g. mentally controlling the movement of a cursor. This “thought reading” aims to help people affected by motor disabilities to communicate. I love both teaching and research; this is my dream job and I wouldn’t trade it for anything else.
Dr James Curran, Senior Lecturer
Director of the National Computer Science School
BSc (Adv) Honours and University Medal ('00)
I first got involved in NCSS as a tutor when I was an undergrad over eleven years ago. Back then, we showed students how to create web pages because nobody had one then, so it was cool. Now, even grandpa can create a web page, so we’ve moved on to a lot more complex stuff.
For me, NCSS is all about inspiration. Its about learning funky computer science and discovering that there are amazing careers in IT, where you can solve challenging problems while helping potentially millions of people.
NCSS is a very full-on week. As well as learning about programming and website development, students experience university life, visit companies like Microsoft and Google, and compete in team games and activities.
I keep doing NCSS because its just so much fun! IT is so exciting and I want everyone to know about it. I love teaching students and teachers about programming and computer science. And I enjoy working with our army of tutors and industry mentors. I can’t think of a better way to spend the summer holidays.
Associate Professor Masahiro Takatsuka
Director of ViSLAB
I joined the School of IT in 2002 after working abroad, and shortly after starting I was appointed as the Director of ViSLAB. ViSLAB is the School of IT’s high-performance visualization, communication and computing research lab.
ViSLAB leads Australia in advanced research into data visualization (both scientific and information visualization), computer graphics and vision, Human-X-Interaction or interface, and my current research focuses on advanced collaboration technology. Whilst video-conferencing allows a certain level of collaboration, it can come with a set of problems; booking rooms and equipment, diary conflicts etc, and users often resort to face-to-face meetings for real collaboration.
My aim is to develop a system that is more advanced; I want to connect people located at remote sites and have them feel as if they are working in the same room. It has to be spontaneous, where you can create really heated discussions, intense, instant collaboration, in any media.
So far my lab has conceptual ideas for this project, and we have implemented several prototypes. The National ICT Australia and CSIRO are quite interested, and are trying out prototypes created in ViSLAB. The initial plan for this system is to improve academic research but it has implications for many other areas such as business, defence, the arts, medical science, environmental science and so on. So many large-scale projects in the world today are conducted at a national or international scale. This type of research will allow better remote collaboration and could help reduce our carbon footprint too!
You don’t have to wait until honours or postgraduate study to work on research projects like this. We had several vacation scholars and many enthusiastic undergrad students, working in our lab to enhance their skills.