April 17, 2014

A bright bulb of an ongoing relationship

Tibra Capital - described as a ‘bright bulb’ on the partnership front - strengthened its ongoing relationship with the University of Wollongong with another recent visit to the campus.

Four of Tibra Capital’s personnel met UOW staff on 9 April in order to build upon an already strong relationship. Tim Berry graduated with a Bachelor of Mathematics and Finance from UOW and is a founding owner of Tibra Capital, and works as Tibra’s Global Managing Director. He was accompanied by Adrian Swain (Head of Development), Chris Udy (Head of the Medium Frequency and Fundamentals Trading teams), and Susan Stilwell (Human Resources).

Having started with just 17 employees in 2006, Tibra Capital now has more than 100 employees at its offices in Wollongong, Sydney, London, Hong Kong and Chicago. It specialises in equities trading, arbitrage, and market making, operating in key electronic markets globally.

Building on a strong history of employing UOW graduates, the company now provides undergraduate work integrated scholarships worth $15,000 and corporate scholarships to the value of $7,000 for UOW students enrolled in Mathematics degrees or in Computer Science, as well as a number of prizes for academic performance in individual subjects.

Professor Jacqui Ramagge from the School of Mathematics and Applied Statistics said Tibra staff provided invaluable input into the development of the Quantitative and Computational Trading major in the Bachelor of Mathematics and Finance. 

“It is the first major of its kind in Australia and puts UOW Bachelor of Mathematics and Finance graduates at the forefront of new developments in the industry. It is a great example of collaboration between industry and academia for the benefit of all concerned,” Professor Ramagge said.

She said that Tibra has been motivated to work with UOW because of the quality of the graduates it had already employed and the collegial way in which UOW works with industrial partners.

Chris Udy said: “The collaboration between the University of Wollongong and Tibra is a relationship that we value highly, offering us access to excellent graduates and an opportunity to promote excellence in the Mathematical Sciences, Computer Science, Physics and Engineering disciplines. The partnership is a leading example of how academic and industry can work together.”

UOW’s Development Manager from the Office of Advancement, Bradford Weekly, praised Tibra for its ongoing support to the scholarship program and described Tibra as “a bright bulb in UOW partnerships”.

Various ideas were discussed at the meeting as to how the two organisations could work together to: encourage students to undertake studies in the Mathematical Sciences, Computer Science, Physics and Engineering areas.

Tibra staff will also be kept at the forefront of academic developments and at the same time academic staff will be kept abreast of developments in the financial industry.

One idea under consideration is an evening event to promote Tibra to high-performing students similar to the Facebook, Google and Microsoft events held at UOW.