Engineering support
by Katrina Kalleske
UniSA engineering students, particularly first year students, are in line to get a helping hand with a swag of new scholarships becoming available to them.
Electronic communications development company Codan has marked its anniversary in South Australia with a new 50th Anniversary Engineering Scholarship worth $10,000 a year for a UniSA student from the School of Electrical and Information Engineering.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Høj said the scholarship will make a significant difference to the lives and careers of future students.
"The Codan 50th Anniversary Engineering Scholarship will be one of the most substantial undergraduate scholarships available in our School of Electrical and Information Engineering," Prof Høj said.
In addition, Codan also became the first corporate sponsor of the University’s Experience 1 Studio at the Mawson Lakes campus – an innovatively equipped common room area for all first year engineering students. Its sponsorship has resulted in the establishment of two additional awards.
The Codan Engineering Transition Grant will provide $2500 to a financially disadvantaged student who has just started an engineering degree; while the Codan High Achiever Engineering Student Prize will go to a first year student based on academic merit.
Following Codan in sponsoring the Experience 1 Studio has been Lockheed Martin and the Association of Consulting Engineers Australia (ACEA). Their sponsorship will also go towards two separate transition grants and high achiever prizes.
"Lockheed Martin is committed to corporate citizenship, innovation, diversity and partnerships with universities," said Carolyn Dillon, Capability Manager for Lockheed Martin Australia Electronics Systems.
"We are proud and enthusiastic about the opportunity to sponsor a state-of-the-art learning space for engineers, to have the honour of awarding Lockheed Martin prizes, and to further strengthen our networking with students and lecturers."
Deputy Chair of the SA Division of the ACEA, Jerome Argue said support of initiatives to encourage students to take up engineering as a profession is a strong aspect of the Association’s charter.
"ACEA recognises the importance to the future prosperity of Australia, the need for a strong and dynamic engineering profession," he said. "Engineers are at the cornerstone of our society, and consulting engineers play a very important role in delivering the infrastructure that will support future growth."
The inaugural Codan 50th Anniversary Engineering Scholarship was recently awarded to Brendon Hampton, a fourth year Bachelor of Electrical and Mechatronic Engineering student who will use it to reduce the number of hours he works if he needs extra time to spend on his studies.
"I enjoy learning the electrical and electronic theory, while also learning how to implement it practically," he said. "We get to learn about the systems that power and control the devices that we use every day and take for granted."