Simon Ratcliffe with (L-R) Justin Lee, Mohsi Jawaid and Dallas McNeil
High achievers awarded Maptek Prize in Computer Science are also given exciting career opportunities.
Maptek Chief Technology Officer Simon Ratcliffe presented Justin Lee with the Maptek prize at the recent University of Adelaide awards night. This is awarded to the highest achieving second-year student from the School of Computer Science in the previous year.
Justin will undertake a paid internship at Maptek at the end of this year to further develop his career, as part of the prize.
‘I'm really honoured to win. It means that I can actually put my skills to the test, meet new people, learn and observe a real company doing real work. Just being offered the chance to work with real world applications makes me feel very lucky to undertake this internship,’ said Justin.
Simon said celebrations such as the awards night were a great reminder of what it means to be excellent and to strive for the best possible results.
‘It's a privilege to meet these top students, to gain an understanding of their aspirations and make available opportunities to develop their skills and experience in industry,’ he said.
‘The enthusiasm of the students is palpable and it recharges my enthusiasm too!’
‘Maptek is held in high regard in computer science and software engineering as a place to be technically challenged and to break new ground on interesting, economically relevant problems.’
Maptek Software Engineer Abdul ‘Mohsi’ Jawaid, previous winner of the Maptek Prize, was recognised with the Australian Computer Society Award at the awards night.
‘Winning the Maptek Prize last year led to my position as a full-time Software Engineer on the Eureka team. Just a week into the internship I knew that I wanted to stay at Maptek for as long as I could and build my career here,’ Mohsi said.
Fellow Maptek Software Engineer Dallas McNeil, who also became a full-time Maptek employee following an internship last summer, received the Executive Dean's Award for achieving a 90% or higher coursework average.
‘It was extremely rewarding to receive the award as I strived to study high-level courses throughout the year,’ Dallas said.
‘I advise others to push their bounds and pursue learning in challenging areas. The internship opportunity has flourished into a permanent position and is a huge kickstart to my professional career, allowing me to grow in so many ways.’
Maptek is has a strong history of supporting the next generation of computer scientists, engineers and geologists and provides software and training to universities across the globe.
Learn more about Maptek university partnerships