For 10 days during August 2018, the Australian National University (ANU) College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) played host to 19 international undergraduate students from five different universities in China, as a part of the 2018 CECS Winter Study Tour.
The theme of the study tour, the ‘Internet of Smart Things’, encouraged the students to explore innovative technology-based solutions to meet the urban challenges faced by growing cities. Over 10 days, the students heard from guest speakers and academics from CECS that delivered expert talks on the benefits, challenges and outcomes of using the Internet of Smart Things to build and develop smart cities. Mentors were also invited to help participating teams with the preparation of their final project presentation, ‘Bettering Canberra Through Internet of Smart Things’.
The final presentations were pitched to a judging panel and a winner was chosen from the groups that the students were assigned to. The winning team presented their idea ‘Smart Parking in Canberra’, which aimed to provide an integrated mobile-friendly parking system, to resolve parking problems in Canberra. The idea involved the use of technology and the Internet of Smart Things, while incorporating ergonomic design for a better user experience.
“All participants had fantastic ideas and it was a difficult task to pick just one team. The winning team demonstrated collaboration and delivered a great presentation, which is what made them the winner,” explained Dr Nan Yang, Senior Lecturer, ANU Research School of Electrical, Energy and Materials Engineering.
Throughout the program, students were engaged in academic activities, facility tours, lab tours and industrial visits to the National Computational Infrastructure (NCI) and the Big Dish at ANU. The students also participated in a seminar hosted by a Canberra-based software development company, Intelledox, where they received insights about the latest trends in business process digitalisation and tips on how to upskill themselves to meet the ever-changing needs of the global workforce.
The Winter Study Tour participants were also able to interact with current ANU students through social activities and classroom sessions. The study-tour experience concluded with the students attending ANU Open Day activities where they had the opportunity to participate in a special coding workshop delivered by a distinguished CECS alumni member and gain hands-on experience about coding in the robotic field.
Overall, the Winter Study Tour students were able to have a diverse and thought-provoking experience, with a bit of fun along the way. “We really enjoyed the research talks and interacting with professors that presented latest trends in IT” said the winning team. Another student Zhao Zhizong shared “ Canberra is a wonderful city to study in and the memorable experience of the Winter Study Tour at ANU has changed my thoughts about my approach to studies and my career goals”
Dr Nan Yang, Dr Qing Wang and Mr Johan Arnberg, presented the students with their awards and spoke of all 19 students’ about their outstanding efforts and achievements.
Winter Study Tour Project Winners
- Chaoyue Xing - Shandong University at Weihai
- Chujie Wu - Shandong University at Weihai
- Yanfeng Jiang - Chongqing University
- Yunlu Zhu - Northwestern Polytechnical University
Participating Universities
- Chongqing University
- Harbin Institute of Technology
- Nanjing University of Science and Technology
- Northwestern Polytechnical University
- Shandong University at Weihai
For more information on this recent Winter Study Tour or future events, please get in touch with the CECS International Marketing & Partnerships team at: international.cecs@anu.edu.au
2018 CECS International Summer School Co-organisers
- Research School of Electrical, Energy and Materials Engineering: Dr Nan Yang
- Research School of Computer Science: Dr Qing Wang
- CECS Marketing: Mr Johan Arnberg and Mr Akeel Feroz