Nov 12th Celebration: 50 years of IT Education in Bendigo!

On November 12th 2014, 50 years of IT Education in Bendigo was celebrated at a regular La Trobe Alumni – Bendigo Chapter Downtown Lecture at the La Trobe University Visual Arts Centre in View St Bendigo.

Ten Education and Industry leaders: Pat Martin, Geoff Court, Ian Gillard, Pat Horan, Rob Cox,  Peter Goddard, Rob Hunt,  Andrew Watts and David Joss, enthralled attendees with snippets and tales of the landmark achievements over 50 years of IT Education first established by Computing Education pioneer Westy Williams at the Bendigo Technical College in 1964.

These photos capture some of the moments from the presentation…

90s photos from the Goddards

Eclectic collection of photos of (mostly old staff but with a sprinkling of 90s students) at retreats, dinners or excursions found by Peter Goddard!

Some memorabilia from Pat Martin

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In 1963-4 Pat Martin was persuaded by Westy Williams the Head of the Department of Accountancy at the Bendigo Technical College to leave the Education Department and become an academic member of the Business Studies division that was formed in order to introduce Data Processing education in 1964.

Over the following twelve years as well as teaching, Pat pursued her own business and IT studies obtaining a Diploma of Business Studies (Data Processing) in 1969, a Post Diploma in Electronic Computing in 1975 and finally the award of Master of Business from the Victoria Institute of Colleges in 1976.

By 1976 Pat had became a Senior Lecturer in the Information Science Department within the  School of Business Studies (later called a Centre) headed by Brian Eskdale in the newly created Bendigo College of Advanced Education (BCAE) –  formed from the merger of the Bendigo Institute of Technology and the State College of Victoria. The new names also meant a change of location from downtown McCrae St Bendigo to the outer Bendigo suburb of Flora Hill.

In 1980 Pat was appointed Head of Department and the new Bachelor of Applied Science (Computing) course was introduced to cater for the increasing need for industry savvy IT professionals. By the time Pat retired in 1990 the number of staff had grown from eight to 18 to, and the Department had evolved to acquire a new name: the Computing & Information Science Department. Pat also has the distinction of being the longest serving Head of Department to date.

Celebration of 5o Years of IT Education in Bendigo

Fifty Years of IT in Bendigo Event

Calling all former students of IT or computing courses at Bendigo over the last 50 years. A special Bendigo Chapter Alumni event – Come along!

Mainframe to Mobile: A Celebration of 5o Years of IT Education in Bendigo

Wednesday 12 NOVEMBER 2014 @6PM

La Trobe Uni Visual Arts Centre, 121 View Street Bendigo

Refreshments provided

 

In 1964 the Bendigo Technical College kicked off 50 years of Information Technology courses by offering the Diploma of Information Processing. The visionary Head of Business Studies, ‘Westy’ Williams was the driving force behind making IT happen!

Join me to hear from past and present leaders in education and industry, who continued Westy’s legacy including: Pat Martin, Ian Gillard, Pat Horan, Rob Cox, Peter Goddard, Phil Scott, Rob Hunt, David Joss, Andrew Watts.

 

Industry Education Celebrations 2012

In November 2012 La Trobe University and its industry partners, Bendigo & Adelaide Bank, Bendigo Community Telco, Bendigo IT, Community Telco Australia, Integrating Technology, Loddon Mallee Rural Health Alliance were recognised in the National Business/Higher Education Round Table (BHERT) Awards.  For their achievements in the Industry Integrated Bachelor of Information Technology (IIBIT) program they were jointly awarded an Honourable Mention in the Outstanding Achievement in Collaboration in Higher Education & Training category. As well as the successful first year of the cadetship program this achievement gave the University and its Industry Partners a double reason to celebrate in December 2012.

 

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Cadetship Launch 2011

In early 2010 after a meeting with Andrew Watts (Bendigo and Adelaide Bank), Andrew Cairns (Community Telco Aus), Andrew Skewes (Director, La Trobe Bendigo Campus) and Brian McGaw (Dean, Science, Technology and Engineering, La Trobe University) the idea of adding cadetships to complement a redesigned Bachelor of Information Technology was formed. This meant the aspiring IT degree student could gain employment with the organisation offering cadetships while being supported to complete an IT degree with La Trobe over a period of five years.

Following a year of planning and preparation the cadetship program was launched in 2011 at Bendigo’s largest VCE school, Bendigo Senior Secondary College. It commenced in 2012 with nine cadets and five Industry Partner organisations: Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, Bendigo Community Telco,  Bendigo IT, Bendigo Community Telco and Integrating Technology.

Student Awards

Awards have been made to the top graduating student for almost the entire history of IT Education in Bendigo. In the early years this award was a gold Medal made from 9 carat gold and awarded by the institution through the Gold Medallist Association.  (The top graduates of all courses run by the institution were awarded gold medals each year.) Geoff Court who graduated as the top student in the Diploma of Information Processing in 1974 has kindly provided a photo of his medal.  Even though by that stage, the institution name was the Bendigo Institute of Technology (1967 – 1976), the medal bears the crest of the Bendigo School of Mines (1873 -1959)/Bendigo Technical College (1959 – 1967).

1974 – Geoff Court’s Gold Medal

 

Many other awards have also been made over the years by staff, Industry Partners and other benefactors. These are recorded in the award ceremony booklets, but few photos have been found.

The following photos provide only a sparse, potted glimpse of some awardees. The honour boards that hang in the corridors of the Business building at the Bendigo campus of La Trobe provide a more complete picture.

2010 IT Bound Calendar

Dan Kerr created this calendar (for 2011) as part of a marketing project in 2010. Completed in record time so it could be included in the IT Bound program for secondary schools, he persuaded local alumni, Uni staff and industry partners alike to play up to the camera (except for his own photo taken by fellow student Vanessa Courtot). Also note the dates represented in both decimal and binary – for IT types of course 🙂

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2008 IT Posters

Like the 2006 -7 calendar Industry Partner Bendigo Community Telco sponsored this initiative to address the perception problems of what it meant to have a career in IT. The posters were inserted in magazines and newspapers like the Bendigo Advertiser throughout 2008.

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The 2006 – 7 Calendar

To help dispel popular myths about IT types, in 2005 graduates of various IT courses agreed to provide photos for a CD sized desk calendar. The only instruction they were given was that the photo should not show them in their workplace… they certainly met this criterion 🙂

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