Dr Gerald Murphy’s legacy lives on
In Summary
In recognition of the late Dr Gerald Murphy’s contribution to ICT education in Australia, Swinburne’s Bachelor of Information Technology Fellowship Award has been renamed the Dr Gerald Murphy Fellowship Award.
The Bachelor of Information Technology (BIT) is one of Australia’s most prestigious IT degrees with the course following a similar structure and model developed by Dr Murphy over 25 years ago.
As a leading member of the foundation team that developed the BIT, Dr Murphy worked in conjunction with industry and government to establish a course that continues to produce high level graduates capable of rapidly moving into IT management roles.
The Dr Gerald Murphy Fellowship Award recognises students who displayed a strong commitment to the course through their contribution to extra-curricular activities. As part of the award, students receive a scholarship to the value of $40,000 towards the completion of the course.
A distinguishing feature of the BIT is the Industry-Based Learning component developed by Dr Murphy, where students gain experience by working with Swinburne’s industry partners over a period of 40 weeks.
BIT alumnus Tristan Sternson, Managing Director of InfoReady, said the Industry-Based Learning element of the course gave him the confidence to succeed after graduation.
“After graduating from the BIT I felt I was prepared to really accelerate my career. Within eight years I had made it to Senior Manager/Director at a major consulting firm and in less than 15 years I built an international consulting firm.
“The relevance of the subjects taught during my studies was on par with skills that were in high demand within the industry,” Mr Sternson said.
The BIT was part of a national pilot program initiated by the Business Council of Australia and now generates approximately $1 million in scholarships annually.