Flinders University: Defence scholarship boost
Generous scholarships from global technology company Northrop Grumman have given four Flinders University computer science students a big boost for their career pathways.
The scholarship program is part of a research and education partnership between Flinders University and aerospace and defence leader Northrop Grumman which gives outstanding computer science undergraduates timely support to build their skills in key areas including artificial intelligence (AI), information technology (IT) and games development.
“At Northrop Grumman Australia we know that Artificial Intelligence is key to the autonomous and decision-making systems of the future, says Mr Chris Deeble, Executive Director Strategy, Northrop Grumman Australia.
“By investing in these outstanding university students today, we’re helping them acquire the skills needed to develop these new and emerging technologies. We’re pleased to be able to support Flinders University in growing tomorrow’s workforce,” he says.
Applying computer skills to game development is one avenue that 2022 scholarship recipient Robert (Bob) Wright believes will lead to new industrial product designs and technological innovations for industries in the future.
“I’m excited to start university after working on gaming in my own time since before the COVID-19 years,” says Bob, 34, who previously managed various hospitality business operations and has completed a diploma in film and television.
Together with fellow 2022 scholarship recipient Orson Hannath, 20, they are using the $5,000 scholarships to support their studies and advance their programming skills in Unity, html, Unreal, Java, C#, C ++, Python, JetBrains and other platforms to explore new areas of game education, web design and IT.
“I’m really grateful for this support in continuing my undergraduate studies this year,” says Bob, who recently used his computer programming skills for an AI learning application.
“I taught myself a lot about computer programming throughout high school and want to learn what industry wants me to know, to apply these skills in advanced manufacturing and other avenues,” says Orson, who will use his grant to buy a laptop to help start a Bachelor of Computer Science majoring in AI.
Last year’s Northrop Grumman undergraduate scholarships were given to Ronin Edson-Wilkinson and Connor Dunne, who are both Bachelor of Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence) Honours students.