Bright young minds bring fresh thinking to future tech challenges

Liam Cormican
10:00am September 02 2024

Emma Tsang, who is studying for a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) in mechatronics and robotics at Western Sydney University. (Supplied)  

What was the world like before the combustion engine, the printing press, and the PC?

Unless you’ve lived through these pivotal technological changes, it’s hard to truly wrap your head around the impact they had on society.

So how do we prepare for technology that’s still mostly theoretical?

Westpac is having a crack at answering this question by investing in talent from diverse academic backgrounds to tackle complex and future-leaning problems.

One of these challenges: what are the skills and resources we’ll need when quantum computing goes mainstream?

“I knew I wanted real-world experience in applying my problem-solving skills, but I never anticipated I’d be thrown in to working on a ground-up experiment in quantum computing”, said Emma Tsang, Westpac Young Technology Scholar winner who spent six weeks working as a Westpac Growth Labs employee.
 

Westpac Young Technology Scholars, from left: Lana Komaromi, Calvin Mullan, Bilal Shah, Emma Tsang. (supplied) 

Growth Labs, in collaboration with Westpac Institutional Bank (WIB), is running an experiment in quantum computing - a technology that has potential to revolutionise the financial industry and the wider world. 

To put it simply, today’s computers use bits – electrical pulses of 1s and 0s. Quantum computers on the other hand use qubits – subatomic particles that can represent numerous possible combinations of 1s and 0s at the same time, theoretically speeding up computational time by orders of magnitudes.

Using her background in engineering and applied mathematics, Emma added a fresh perspective to the Growth Labs team, helping them with deep analysis and new ideas when exploring the potential applications of quantum computing in finance.

“I was able to use my engineering training - building systems bottom up and Westpac entrusted me to do the research.”

Emma said working outside of her comfort zone has given her confidence she can apply her academic studies to real-world problems.

“I was surprised to be able to work in a corporate environment on such an interesting project that has potential to help the business and its customers.”

Nick Munro, Head of Innovation & Fintech at Westpac who leads Growth Labs, said the diversity of thinking and strong research background that Emma brought to the experiment laid the foundation for a technical experiment the team are working on with AWS.

“We like to foster and invest in young technologists to help us upskill the workforce on emerging technologies like quantum computing. Having an innovation mindset will become increasingly important,” Munro says.

“We’ve all just seen the rapid rise of generative AI and how important it is to have people with the right aptitude. These experiments help us to understand the future skills needed for Westpac as a technology leader, guiding how we invest and develop our own people whilst providing tertiary pathways such as our graduate program and scholarships.”

Australia is in a favourable position when it comes to quantum computing, says Munro, with significant investment coming from both the government and universities.

Earlier this year, the Australian and Queensland Government invested a combined $940 million into a US-based quantum technology company to build a quantum computer in Australia.

"It can be hard to predict what the technology of tomorrow is, but Australia has an opportunity to be a leader in new technologies like quantum computing and if it lives up to even a fraction of its hype, we need to get in front of this technological revolution."

For students looking to break into the industry, Munro offers valuable advice: "Don't downplay what your unique background and experiences bring to the table. Your input, shaped by your diversity of thought, is precisely what businesses need to stay ahead. Westpac Young Technologist Emma Tsang is testament to that."

Applications for 2025 Westpac Young Technologists Scholarships open on Monday September 2. Visit the website to find out more and apply or nominate someone who should.

 

Liam Cormican

Liam is a reporter for Westpac Wire. He previously served as a financial journalist for Money Management and as a regional journalist in Nowra for Australian Community Media.

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