Computer Experts Head Overseas

SYDNEY (14 April) - For two young computer/software experts, America will be home for at least the next six months as they head off on an international exchange program organised by Boeing Australia Limited.

The two, Kollen Glynn of Rose Bay and Mark Schuhmacher of Willoughby, will be working with Boeing Aviation Systems in Seattle and actively participating in research and development of leading edge systems for command and control systems as a method of achieving high levels of technology transfer.

For Kollen Glynn, a software engineer who has spent the last 18 months with Boeing Australia since he graduated from La Trobe University with a First Class Honors Bachelor of Computer Systems Engineering degree, the opportunity to spend time in the US comes at just the right time.

He said: "Working for Boeing has certainly taken my knowledge and understanding to a greater level, but taking part in this R&D program, leading to making Australia a smarter country, is certainly exciting."

And that's a sentiment shared by Mark Schuhmacher, who carries a Bachelor of Computer Engineering degree with Honors, and a Bachelor of Computer Science to the States with him.

Mark said: "For Boeing Australia to perform well as a prime contractor in a number of upcoming projects it is critical to have a deep understanding of emerging and newly available technologies that can be further developed, applied and\or adapted to meet Australian needs.

"We will form a 'seed' team that, on return to Australia, can create a dynamic software development cell. In this way we can provide effective in-country software development and support for our upcoming projects and will augment the engineering capabilities already possessed by Boeing Australia.

"The technology transfer is a strategic initiative I'm happy to be a part of," he said.

Another area that the engineers will be focusing on is data fusion and trackers.

Both Data Fusion and Tracking are important to Australia and particularly to Boeing Australia in the company's bid to provide the Australian Defence Force with a suitable Airborne Warning and Control system.

Boeing Australia already has three engineers working in the United States who are seconded to several defence-related products involving open systems architectures and real-time software development.

Managing Director of Boeing Australia, David Gray, said the plan by Boeing Australia was to ensure that young engineers had the opportunity to work overseas.

"We don't just want people here who are doing a job," he said, "we want people who aim to ask how to make things better, who can make Australia the smart country.

"The selection of these people to work with our parent company in the United States represents just one arm of a training and opportunity program that we are more than happy to support."

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