Macquarie Government WSU Cyber Security Scholarship Selection Underway

I had the absolute privilege of meeting four exceptional students from Western Sydney University on Thursday last week. I was a member of the panel that was tasked with selecting the recipient of the Macquarie Government Cyber Security Scholarship for the University.

I worked with Scott Lyall, Business Development Manager and Dr Jeffrey Foster, Director of Academic Program at Western Sydney University. We had a fantastic time getting to know a little more about these talented students and hearing from them about their commitment to their studies and the world around them.

Scholarship programme reveals young high achievers

All four, Rifa Sansiza Ritu, Andrew Jason Pathmanathan, Thomas Amerongen and Maurizio Lettieri are in the second year of their studies in Computer Science, Information & communications technology or Information systems, with studies in Cyber Security. They were each interview by the panel, sharing stories including:

• building servers out of dumped computer hardware and what was found on the hard drive
• challenges regarding identity theft associated with portable card scanners

We also explored the students’ academic results, which were exceptional, and in one case a perfect 7 GPA.

Macquarie Government has partnered with Western Sydney University for the last 3 years, providing a scholarship to support an exceptional student during their second year of studies. Our scholarship provides a $7,500 grant and introductions into our industry for the successful recipient.  This year’s scholarship winner will be announced shortly, and the official ceremony will be on October 5.

I am so proud to be part of an organisation that invests in the development of amazing young Australian talent. Good luck and thank you to all the candidates. You are exceptional young people and I look forward to seeing your ongoing successes.