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New computing degree prepares students for future jobs
15 February 2017
Our multidisciplinary approach opens up a world of possibilities
Preparing today's students for jobs that may not currently exist is what the University of Sydney's new Bachelor of Advanced Computing is all about.
"The way we're going to train this generation will be fundamentally different from the past. These young people will absolutely change the world because now the sky is the limit in terms of what they can do," says Professor Athman Bouguettaya, the Head of the School of Information Technologies.
Replacing previous computing degrees, the new four-year Bachelor of Advanced Computing is arguably the most innovative IT degree in Australia offering more flexibility than ever before.
"This new degree develops and connects practical and theoretical skills across computing industries," says Professor David Lowe, Associate Dean (Education) in the Faculty of Engineering and IT. "Students will learn from leaders within the many different specialties of the computing field, which is essential to acquiring the skills to meet the ever-changing innovation needs in the marketplace."
One of the highlights of the new degree is the flexibility for students to combine their interest in computing with another passion, from music and languages to finance, food science and design. By choosing a second major from a university-wide pool of more than 100 majors, Bachelor of Advanced Computing students can add skills in disciplines such as marketing, science and health to better equip themselves for the jobs of the future.
Speaking about what exciting job opportunities will become a reality in the next five years, Tinlock (Tiny) Pang from the successful Australian startup Canva can see data science being applied to many more problems in an increasing number of industries. "Having a specialisation in other fields and combining it with programming and data science will produce innovative businesses and projects we couldn't imagine or comprehend today," Ms Pang says.
Professor Lowe can see the university's new multidisciplinary approach producing more leaders in the IT innovation space. For example, a student who combines Software Development with Music could revolutionise sound production; by choosing Computer Science and Linguistics, they may make real-time translation a reality; or by specialising in both Computational Data Science with Genetics and Genomics, tomorrow's graduate could help fight antibiotic-resistant viruses. "The possibilities are endless," says Professor Lowe.
With University of Sydney graduates ranked the most employable in Australia and the fifth most sought-after by employers worldwide, students studying the Bachelor of Advanced Computing will be well-equipped to meet the challenges of these future jobs.
Find out more about the University of Sydney's new undergraduate experience.
