Google honours students with nation's first prize

Computer Science

Search engine provider Google Australia will offer an annual prize to the best Computer Science Honours student at the University of Adelaide.

It is the first university award of its kind the company has established in Australia.

The engineering director for Google Australia and New Zealand, Alan Noble, made the announcement while addressing an Australian Information Industry Association lunch in Adelaide last month.

"The prize is for $1000 and it brings with it a lot of kudos," said the acting head of the School of Computer Science, Associate Professor David Munro. "The Google name is synonymous with success.

"Alan is an alumnus of the University and is keen to help us keep creating the best software engineers. There are plenty of good openings in this field."

Mr Noble graduated in Electrical Engineering from the University of Adelaide but was attracted to software engineering while completing a PhD at Stanford University in the United States.

He joined Google from NetPriva, the Adelaide-based software company he co-founded.

He had previously created a similar company in California.

"Alan's priority is to oversee substantial growth in Google's engineering and R&D capability in Australia," Associate Professor Munro said.

"He came back to the University recently to deliver a seminar and is interested in talking to prospective students during our Open Days."

Story by Nick Carne