Late last year, students from various universities were invited to contribute to a roundtable event hosted by KPMG and AmCham. The opportunity was pitched to students interested in industries identified as important for future economic and strategic success between Australia and the US. There were six fields profiled:
- Artificial Intelligence
- The Digital Economy
- Space
- Energy & Clean Technology
- Quantum Science
- Biotechnology
This panel provided an opportunity for students to become familiar with AmCham and KPMG, and share their thoughts and expectations for the future of the profiled industries. Their responses were published in a widely distributed report, providing great exposure for and representation of UTS students – several UTS students were quoted, and three of the four articles featured were from UTS. Below, we feature key industry insights shared by three students from FEIT.
Biotechnology – Nikitha Rao
“The intersection of biology and technology attracts me due to its potential to advance areas of health, the environment, and sustainable agriculture. After graduating, my goal is to utilize my knowledge of biotechnology to improve the quality of life of medical patients. Currently, biotech is quite a niche field in Australia, with the main career avenues being medical device manufacturing and distribution, as well as regulatory affairs.
I am convinced that a stronger American-Australian relationship will prove beneficial for the biotechnology industry. I believe that it could open new avenues of employment with greater career variability, increased economic prosperity, and advance community wellbeing. Opportunities always contain risks, and the one concern I have is that the relationship may catalyse rapid changes within the Australian biotechnology industry that we are not yet equipped to handle. This could possibly threaten the long-term sustainability of our companies and their products, but if we meet this challenge this could accelerate the career opportunities and medical improvements for young Australians such as myself.”
The Digital Economy – Inshaa Amrutha
“Welcome to the digital age, and with all the efficiencies and productivity that has come with it, more and more, we trust that it will just ‘work.’ We live in the digital age, in which things that used to be accurate and tangible are now machine- generated or only exist as bits and bytes. For example, consider your bank account and the total absence of actual money or legal tender underlies it; you trust that the assets exist because you can ‘see’ them when you log in to your account on the financial institution’s website. This reliance on digital systems is why the tempo of concern due to cyberattacks is rising rapidly. The time to collectively work together is needed more than ever to prevent these attacks from taking place to vastly reduce the number of successful attacks and restore the digital trust we all require for our global economy.”
Quantam Science – Connor Boughton
“Quantum straddles several exciting new frontiers in science, engineering and programming. I am attracted to its ability to disrupt industries and bring about societal innovation. I believe Quantum technology will lead to new careers in developing advanced models for smart city infrastructure. This may include renewable energy grid stabilisation and improvements in city transportation. It is an area I am particularly interested in, as I aim to follow a career in Energy and Infrastructure after graduation.
I hope the future American-Australian relationship will lead to further cooperation in Quantum research and result in shared prosperity from industry 4.0 innovations, as well as the need for quantum experts to contribute to the new AUKUS initiative. But I am also concerned that the technology developed by this collaboration may compromise encryption protocols. Overall, I am excited by the future of Quantum technology in Australia and America, and its ability to bring both nations closer together.”