When the first group of Federation University Projects students embarked on a learning journey with Marching Elephants, an innovative consulting company, they were taking an important leap into their future careers in the tech industry.
ATMC and Marching Elephants honoured all the students, who worked with the Marching Elephants team to produce impressive technology projects throughout the semester, at a special awards ceremony this week.
Marching Elephants CEO Andrew Roberts awarded the top students, Amandeep Kaur (1st prize) Rubal Sharma (2nd prize) and Ganesh Thapa (3rd prize) with individual prizes, and the Best Team – The Incredibles Aditya Marwaha, Rubal Sharma and Amarpreet Kaur Nijjar with vouchers to the Melbourne Eureka Skydeck.
Andrew Roberts with Projects students.
Andrew also revealed that after a tough selection process which included a team-building exercise, exam and an interview, students Simarpreet Kaur and Krunal Patel were offered full-time positions with Marching Elephants.
“Simarpreet and Krunal were awarded these positions based on the highest standard of academic performance and quality in their project work, as well as their involvement, dedication, leadership and the ability to work well as part of the team. I and the team at Marching Elephants look forward to them starting employment with us. Welcome,” Andrew said.
ATMC Lecturer and Projects Coordinator Shreyash Patel with Krunal and Simarpreet.
Simarpreet, who is originally from Bathinda, Punjab India, and studied a Masters of IT, said she felt honoured to have been offered an opportunity to work with the team.
“When I found out I was selected I was really, really happy. I almost cried. I always focused on my studies so that I could get a professional job in my field and now I have achieved my goal,” she said.
“My family was really happy. My mother has been really supportive for me because she is my inspiration, she is really hard working. It was an achievement for her and for me.”
Simarpreet receiving her certificate from Andrew.
Indian native Krunal, who also studied a Masters of IT, said he was very happy to be awarded a full-time position before graduating, something he did not think was possible.
“I told my family, they were all excited and emotional. My friends were all surprised that I was offered a professional job in my field before graduation. They didn’t believe me the first time I told them.”
Simarpreet and Krunal will commence their positions with Marching Elephants in July. Both students plan to make the experience worthwhile for their careers in the tech industry.
“I’m excited about working with new people and being part of the Marching Elephants team. My career goal is to be a good website developer. Step-by-step I want to gain deep knowledge about that,” Krunal said.
Krunal receiving his certificate from Andrew.
With her experience working as an ATMC mentor, Simarpreet will be assisting the Marching Elephants team with ongoing Projects students as well as improving her developing knowledge.
“For the first few months I will be mentoring Project students and in the meantime will also learn more about web design and development from the team, and get my Sitefinity development platform certificate,” Simarpreet said.
Andrew said he enjoyed the experience because it was not only helpful for the students but also for his team.
“We’ve learned what it’s like to work with students in a different way, we’ve learned what it’s like to mentor people, and we’ve learned what it’s like to guide people and share ideas and our knowledge. We have gained as much from this program and you have in participating in it. I have personally found it an enjoyable and rewarding experience.”
Shreyash Patel with Projects students.