Scholarship Helps Drive IT Innovation

Computer systems analyst  is the first recipient of the Telstra Media Communication Scholarship to study for a Master of Science and Information Technology degree at Carnegie Mellon.

The scholarship is worth $90,000.

"I am very excited as I could only have studied the masters with the scholarship," she says. "The course is ranked No. 1 in the U.S. in its field, so it's an amazing feeling to be studying at an international university with so many great students."

Ms. Boundey, 33, of Firle, was working as a systems analyst at the Australian Rail Track Corporation when she won the scholarship.

She say she was attracted to the MSIT degree at Carnegie Mellon because it offers both business and IT-focused subjects. "I was looking for a management-type program, but I didn't want to study a straight MBA," she says.

"Getting the Telstra scholarship has meant I will be able to study full-time and finish my studies within one year, rather than spread out over three to five years (part-time)."

The Telstra program will support 15 students over the next five years to complete an MSIT at Carnegie Mellon's Heinz Scholl of Public Policy and Management campus in Adelaide. Telstra's executive director of IT, John McInerney, says IT expertise is important in driving innovation. "The most successful technology leaders are those with a combined expertise in technology and business strategy," he says.

Carnegie Mellon is the first overseas university to set up in Australia. The Pittsburgh-based university opened its Heinz School in Adelaide in 2005.