November 12, 2020

Information and communication technology students showcase projects

Students solve real-world problems through partnerships with industry

Students from the University of Wollongong’s School of Computing and Information Technology (SCIT) will put their talents on show this week.

The SCIT Trade Show will be held virtually via Zoom on Thursday 12 November from 11.30am to 2.30pm. It features 27 undergraduate and 11 postgraduate projects that promise to transform how future Australian industries will work.

The Trade Show will feature a range of mobile apps, games and innovative software: the products of industry-student partnerships and the work of 130-plus UOW undergraduate and 50 postgraduate students. Students will be on-hand virtually to discuss their projects.

SCIT senior lecturer Dr Mark Freeman, who is overseeing many of the projects, coordinating the undergraduate subject (CSIT321: Project) and coordinating the trade show event, said all of the technology solutions virtually on display address real-life problems facing Australian communities, charities or businesses operating in the ICT, medical, welfare and gaming industries.

“From tracking beer kegs to crowdsourcing surf reporting, email management systems to collaboration tools of the future, these industry-student projects highlight how information technology and computer systems can revolutionise the way we live,” Dr Freeman said.

“The Trade Show will encourage students to step into a bright career future as Australia’s next generation of innovators.

The projects give students an opportunity to work with industry professionals and use their computer science, business and information technology skills – acquired at UOW – to demonstrate their technology acumen and career potential.

“The work demonstrates the incredible talent of UOW students and shows how innovation and ‘out-of-the-box thinking’ really can change our world,” Dr Freeman said.

“By working with industry while still at university, these students have been able to fully realise what they are truly capable of and be projected onto a bright career path.”

Industry support for the event has been strong, despite the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with 16 industry representatives judging the student projects for the event’s prizes, with a number of the judges new to judging for 2020.

The students too had taken the additional challenges of working remotely in their stride.

“The students have adapted very well to the changing landscape that 2020 has dealt them,” Dr Freeman said.

“At the start of the year, when the projects were assigned, traditional face-to-face teaching was still happening. We had the industry-based clients of the projects come to the campus and pitch their projects for students to submit expressions of interest.

“Then, as the projects were being allocated, there was a shift to online learning and remote delivery of teaching due to Covid-19. Since then, students have become accustomed to online meetings and pre-recording of their presentations.

Unfortunately, remote delivery means students will not be able to easily see the final products of other students and talk about the challenges they have faced. However, with project pitches being pre-recorded, students have the opportunity to see each other’s projects before the event.

“The Trade Show for the past 20 years has been a very social event that students from early in their degrees talk about,” Dr Freeman said.

“Students have commented how great it is to be able to still review the work of other groups, virtually.”

To register to attend the SCIT Trade Show go to https://news.eis.uow.edu.au/event/2020-trade-show/

For more information, please visit: https://www.uow.edu.au/engineering-information-sciences/tradeshow/