Five QUT students are off to the Indo-Pacific region after the Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne yesterday (November 25) announced the 2020 recipients of Australia’s prestigious New Colombo Plan Scholarships.
Gemma Price, (Bachelor of Engineering – Honours, Bachelor of Science), Lily Kennedy (Bachelor of Business – International), Gerard Anton (Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering – Honours), Benjamin Davie (Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering) and Haard Shah (Bachelor of Engineering – Honours, Bachelor of Information Technology) were all awarded scholarships to represent Australia and QUT abroad.
The scholarship will enable them to each spend a semester/year studying overseas and also complete language and internships during their trip.
Benjamin will spend semester 1 in 2020 at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology which he hopes will lead to a career in the automotive industry.
"Having been a part of the QUT Motorsport team I have had experience in the design cycle for developing a car,” said Benjamin.
“I would be very interested in expanding this further by studying automotive specific subjects before undertaking an internship with an automotive manufacturer. The internship will provide valuable insight into research and development at a large scale and better prepare me for integrating into the industry upon graduation.”
Gemma is highly enthusiastic at the thought of making new and lasting connections in her field while undertaking the scholarship program.
“In addition to my semester of study, I intend to undertake various research internships, in Singapore and other countries as well. I am really excited to gain international experience and exposure to current research being conducted in medical engineering and biology,” Gemma said.
“As a budding researcher, this scholarship provides me with an invaluable opportunity to forge and establish relationships with potential colleagues and professional partners.”
Gerard will enrol at the University of Technology Malaysia for semester 2 next year to study naval architecture and will also embark on an internship in Japan.
“To maximise the New Colombo Plan Scholarship, I plan to undertake a shipbuilding internship with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan, and attend conferences like Asia Pacific Maritime Singapore to learn about new technology and upcoming trends,” Gerard said.
“While studying naval architecture at the University of Technology Malaysia I will also complete a mentorship with the Marine Technology Centre there.”
Lily will undertake studies at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan, commencing semester 2.
“Studying international relations in Japan will provide me with a new viewpoint from which to understand the future of the Asia-Pacific region,” said Lily.
“I hope to learn how Japan's official development assistance budget, the largest in Asia, is spent and its impact measured so that I can bring this knowledge back to Australia. I then plan to do one of my internships with DFAT in Tokyo and the other with either the Japan International Cooperation System or the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.”
Haard will use his scholarship to take up study at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, for semester 2.
“During my study at Nanyang Technological University, I hope to dive deeper into artificial intelligence and its emerging fields of machine learning and computer vision,” Haard said.
“I also aim to foster a mentorship relationship with researchers at Data Science & Artificial Intelligence Research Centre at NTU to understand Singapore’s research to commercial transition process. After further developing my knowledge of artificial intelligence I hope to secure an internship with VoxelCloud to assist the health industry using artificial intelligence.”
The New Colombo Plan Scholarships are funded by the Australian Government to strengthen Australia’s links with Indo-Pacific nations. Nationally, 125 scholarships have been offered for 2020.
Caption, main photo: (left to right) QUT students Gerard Anton, Lily Kennedy, Haard Shah, Benjamin Davie and Gemma Price with QUT Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Margaret Shiel (centre)
Media contact:
Amanda Weaver, QUT Media, 07 3138 3151, amanda.weaver@qut.edu.au
After hours: Rose Trapnell, 0407 585 901, media@qut.edu.au
