Nine university students have been offered scholarships with local defence and related companies to work on industry nominated Honours projects.

Higher Education and Skills Minister Susan Close said the State Government’s 2016 Defence Honours Scholarship Program provides invaluable industry experience.

“The nine local students are eligible to receive up to $7,000 to undertake an Honours project, gain industry experience, increase their future career and employability prospects and connections in the defence sector,” Dr Close said.

“Working in fields important to South Australia will be invaluable to university students who will later enter our job market.

“The successful students, hailing from South Australian universities, will work on Honours projects hosted by Form Cut Pty Ltd, Saab Australia, Data to Decisions Cooperative Research Centre, Ultra Electronics – Avalon, Inovor Technologies and Novafast International.

“Employers may be eligible for up to $3,000 to offset any costs associated with the Honours project,” she said.

Minister for Defence Industries Martin Hamilton-Smith said the defence sector is critical to South Australia’s economic prosperity as the state transitions from traditional to high-value manufacturing.

“Our state is home to a world-class defence industry delivering innovative solutions to complex problems, and so it is vital that we have a pipeline of skilled workers capable of meeting the industry’s needs into the future,” Mr Hamilton-Smith said.

Summertown resident Caitlin Gray, who is studying Honours in Applied Mathematics at the University of Adelaide, said her project with Data to Decisions CRC will use modelling to predict how a piece of information may move through social sites such as Facebook or Twitter.

“Understanding the flow of information, for example a meme or video, through these networks means you can predict the influence or impact a particular topic will have across a social network,” Ms Gray said.

“The Defence Honours Scholarship is a great benefit to me by providing financial support through my honours year allowing me to devote my full attention to my studies.

“Supervision by Data to Decisions CRC allows me to form relationships with professionals in the industry and potential future employers.”

The 2017 Defence Honours Scholarship Program and Round 3 of the Defence and STEM Internship Program will open to employers for Expressions of Interest on 23 March 2016.

Full list of scholarships:

Student	Degree	University	Company	Project	Suburb
Caitlin Gray	Honours in Applied Mathematics	University of Adelaide	Data to Decisions CRC	Scalable mathematical model for prediction of information diffusion in social networks	Summertown
Jade Chantrell	Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)(Mechanical and Aerospace) with a Bachelor of Science	University of Adelaide	Inovor Technologies	Cube-satellite Systems – Project 1 ADCS	Royston Park
Nathan Lakes	Bachelor of Computer Science (Honours)	University of South Australia	Data to Decisions CRC	Precursor pattern analysis for civil unrest events	Rosslyn Park
Patrick White	Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) with a Bachelor of Science (Physics)	University of Adelaide	Form Cut Pty Ltd	Design and build a cost effective blast test rig	Nuriootpa
Shiva Rouholfada	Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering	Flinders University	Inovor Technologies	Cube-satellite systems – Project 2 structure systems	Clovelly Park
Christopher Boden	Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical and Mechatronic)	University of South Australia	SAAB Australia	STEM Tethered ROV	Enfield
Jarrod Skinner	Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical and Electronic)	University of South Australia	Ultra Electronics Avalon Systems	Gracie – a software defined signal monitoring system for navy	Smithfield Plains
Daniel Stone	Bachelor of Computer Science with Honours	University of South Australia	Ultra Electronics Avalon Systems	Gracie – a software defined signal monitoring system for Navy	Salisbury Plain
Kyal King	Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical and Advanced Manufacturing)	University of South Australia	Novafast International	Composite materials design	Paralowie