University of Technology Sydney UTS CRICOS 00099F

2021 Bachelor of Information Technol og y Welcome Pack

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Welcome

A word from the faculty Welcome and congratulations on starting your career as a Bachelor of Information Technology (BIT) scholar.

BIT boasts a series of social, professional and alumni events that enables you to form lifelong connections with fellow BIT scholars and industry contacts that could ignite your future career. The BIT program has a 100 percent employment track record with 80 percent of BIT scholars taking graduate roles with one of the BIT industry sponsors, and the remaining 20 per cent securing employment with reputable companies in the industry.

Transitioning to University can be daunting and with that in mind, the current BIT scholars have prepared this document with information and tips about being a BIT scholar. The BIT program has a close-knit community that offers great peer support while you study and the BIT team at the faculty would like to encourage you to get connected and make the most of this experience.

We look forward to meeting and supporting you throughout your university journey.

Bachelor of Information Technology Team UTS Faculty of Engineering and IT

Key Contacts in the BIT team

Srinivas Madhisetty Sri is the Bachelor of Information Technology course coordinator and is the point of contact in regards to your academic deliverables.

Phone: 02 9514 4550

Email: Srinivas.madhisetty@uts.edu.au

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-srinivas-madhisetty-sri-01004610a/

Lydia Dowling Lydia is the Business Relationship Manager and is responsible for securing scholarships and liaising with our sponsors and industry partners.

Phone: 02 9514 3185

Email: Lydia.dowling@uts.edu.au

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/lydia-dowling-37323914

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Welcome from Hasith Jayasekera Hey everyone! On behalf of all Bachelor of Information Technology (BIT) students, I would like to congratulate you on receiving and accepting your offer! Along with this, I’d like to wish you a warm welcome to UTS and the BIT Program. We know that adapting to university can be quite a challenge, so we created this document so that you can learn from the experiences and perspectives of some fellow students. If you have any questions, please reach out to anyone mentioned in this document (including me!) through Facebook. Whilst you have gotten into a scholarship program, make sure you enjoy your time at uni as much as you can. Everyone has a different university experience, so it’s up to you to make the most of it. For example, I strongly recommend joining one of UTS’s many societies, which cater to various interests and areas. Along with this, organise meetups with your fellow peers, and make new friends throughout your university journey. Secondly, you will come to realise how close your BIT cohort becomes over just a few months. Being surrounded by like-minded peers allows you to build upon what you already know and no matter what, you will learn so much over the next three years. Being a BIT means you will be part of a very close-knit community rare to find in other degrees and universities. Support each other, learn together, and always remember to help each other grow. Once again, congratulations on receiving and accepting your offer. We look forward to meeting you, best of luck for the coming three years and remember that we’re always here to help! Hasith Jayasekera 3rd Year BIT & President of UTS Tech Society 2021

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Meet some BIT students We’ve asked a few BITs to share a little bit about their backgrounds and experiences. These students are at different stages of their degree and hopefully their stories will encourage you to consider new opportunities and possibilities. Remember, the older BITs are always here to have a chat or answer any questions so feel free to hit any of us up

2nd Year BITs (2020 Cohort) In all honesty, If you had asked me at the start of Year 12 what I had planned to do, it would not be BIT. Coming into the degree, I had rubbed shoulders briefly with IT and development over the past years, but I also knew that coding was not exactly what I pictured myself doing in future. The BIT degree is a crossroads between the areas of Business and Compsci thus provides me with a platform and an opportunity for me to learn more about both areas and see where it takes me. Unfortunately, due to the situation with Covid-19 I have not had the opportunity to experience my first Work Placement as of yet (It's very soon though!!! and I am e x c i t e d). First year from my table/bed/dining room was a sometimes funny, sometimes gruelling and unspeakably foreign experience. For you first-years, having used Zoom and MSTeams and whatever other litany of various software programs to attend some of your HSC classes, unless the situation with Covid-19 clears up rather quickly, I would advise for you to expect more of the same for your first semester as Uni students. Although I can count on my fingers the amount of face-to-face classes which I had, I would say that if permitting, you should almost definitely attend F2F. Even though I have yet to experience many classes in person and I cannot speak for the academic side of it, the social aspect and mental reset that being at Uni with your peers will provide you is invaluable. Without getting too much into it, all I can say is that the BIT program prevented my first year at university from becoming a dumpster fire like the rest of 2020 was. The orientation/signing day event, our BIT Dinner and BIT Camp as well as the various online meetings we had with the other BITs provided me with a lifeline that if I did not have, I likely would have spent the year lacking a single new friend from university. But I did have the BIT program, and for that I am forever grateful. Disregarding the presence of a cohort of academic support wizards - a class of like minded people who you can turn to for help, individuals you can share a breakdown with as you cram your lectures for the final exams, the genuine support and openness that the BITs showed me was the highlight of my year. Discord movie livestreams and raiding a twitch channel of a fellow BIT, Covid adherent gatherings and delectable memes in the group chats were what kept me going, and I can only hope you will all be able to experience even a fraction of what I did. There's so much more that I would love to talk about, but my autobiography can be saved for a later date. To all the incoming first-years - best wishes, and please, please reach out to any of us if you have questions, need advice or just want to have a chat =) Jarrod Li 2nd Year BITCOM Representative

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3rd Year BITs (2019 Cohort) BIT! In high school, I wanted to get into computing with a bit of business so I bit the bullet and applied for BIT bit by bit. It was the perfect option. If you’re like me and thought that high school was a bit of a waste of time, you’ll love uni. The work, the people, the system, and the freedom are amazing, and being a part of the BIT family has made uni a delightful and valuable experience. If you’ve made it this far, you’re the cream of the crop. You have nothing to be worried about and everything to be excited about. I found the work in first year fairly painless and you’ll have the support of the BIT elders and their infinite wisdom (and study resources). Thank you for saving tree lives by doing a tech degree – you can say goodbye to textbooks as they’ve been deprecated in favour of more modern information technologies. You won’t need to worry about finding friends either. BIT culture and meeting amazing people have been my favourite parts of BIT/uni. Coming into uni already having a group of hand-picked, intelligent, supportive friends was incredible (good for group assignments too) and the BIT social events (dinners, camp, games nights) throughout the year provided great opportunities to network and build lasting friendships. I had a blast on my first placement - learnt so much, was treated well, got to contribute to real projects, and had a ton of fun playing D&D with the dev teams. The fortnightly scholarship money is also a nice touch. I encourage you to learn as much as you can and make the most of the opportunities presented to you. Atlassian began at university in the UNSW-equivalent of BIT – the founders are now multi-billionaires. Facebook began at university and now Mr Zuckerberg is one of the richest and most powerful people in the world. They all began as tech people at university. You’re a tech person at university. The things you’ll learn and do in next 3 years have the potential to change the course of the rest of your life and the lives of others! Open your mind, take it all in, and enjoy the ride. Be proactive. Be pragmatic. Be different. Be trailblazers. Strive for greatness but stay down-to-earth. Alternatively, just chill and have fun – you’ve already put in the work to get here! I’m excited to meet you all and see the things you do. Feel free to reach out any time. Welcome to the BIT FAM! Sean Tran 3rd Year BITCOM Representative Coming into BIT in my first year none of my highschool friends had decided to come to UTS, that and coming from an all girls school I definitely had to go outside of my comfort zone to interact with new people and embrace new experiences. BIT is genuinely a cohort of like-minded individuals so it was really easy for me to adjust to being in a different environment, that and the welcoming community all the way from the first to third years established via the Facebook chat, camp and activities really helped me make some truly treasured relationships. Ever since I was a kid I had always enjoyed using all forms of technology, researching the latest products and specs and how things work, so I knew that a career in tech was the way to go. I have always been interested in IT and in high school, I did all the IT subjects, but I knew I wasn’t really a coder so I wanted to explore a degree which combines aspects of IT and business. BIT is unlike any other degree whereby you have industry placements embedded in your study so you're prepared for the workforce. For my first industry experience, I was working on a client role facing one of the world's largest professional services industries where I learned many practical industry skills which cannot be taught in the classroom. That and UTS has many other opportunities you can be apart of, in 2020 I had the opportunity to partake in many extracurricular activities from being the BIT representative, iMentor, partaking in the Lucy Mentoring Program, being a Student Promotional Representative of UTS (SPROUT) and becoming a WiET Gender Equity Ambassador and in 2021 I will be taking up a new position as the FEIT representative on the Academic and Faculty boards. The above are just the few opportunities you can be involved in and there are many societies and opportunities up for grabs when you start! So my advice for the incoming first years is to try everything and talk to everybody you never know the people you meet and the opportunities which may open just from saying YES! Good luck, feel free to reach out for any questions and look forward to meeting you guys! Aiswaryalakshmi Rajeev 3rd Year BITCOM Advisor, FEIT Academic/Faculty Board Member, WiEIT Gender Equity Ambassador

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BIT Alumni I still can't believe that I've graduated from uni. That's right - 3 years fly by VERY quickly. IT is such a BIG field, so it's normal to feel overwhelmed or lost. The next 3 years are there for you to find your interests and passions. Believe in yourself, because things change! I started off thinking I'd be strictly interested in the business side of IT, but instead, I've chosen and enjoyed technical subjects that are heavily programming-focused for my final year of studies. Now, let me share a story on how I landed a job after uni. In my first year, I met an Ex-BIT who talked about his consultancy start-up over some drinks. At the end of the night, he was just another LinkedIn connection. Over the next few years, I actually onboarded the consultancy as an industry sponsor for the UTS Tech Society, and worked alongside them for a few events. Coincidentally, I then worked on a project alongside some of their consultants at my 3rd year work placement as well! To my surprise, they reached out to me with a job offer at the end of my degree - I had never worked for the consultancy before, and I never even applied for them. They hired me because they were familiar with me, and they were able to get to know me over different instances in the past few years. And that, my friends, is why networking is quite useful. I could go on about all the ways you could grow professionally in the next few years. But no, I want to tell you to enjoy yourself. Burnout is real. My favourite motto is that I "work to live, not live to work". Yes, join different uni societies, go to your lectures and respect the hustle - but remember to relax, pick up some hobbies, make friends (outside of BIT too!), party (after COVID), travel (after COVID) and have FUN. This is the most free time you will get. You guys are all going to smash it at uni. Good luck! Add me on LinkedIn - I'm always up for a chat. Amara Tut 2018 BIT Cohort

When I first joined the BiT program, I was the only one from my school who came to UTS, everyone else pretty much went to UNSW or USYD doing med, law, actuarial etc, so it was quite a different environment that what I was used to back in high school. However, on my first day, everyone was extremely welcoming and I met people from all different backgrounds and lifestyles and I fit in without any difficulties. These group of people are one of the best things about BiT. You are with them in every class, you can literally talk about anything from classes to general banter. Other than the amazing people, you meet along the way, the BiT experience is truly like no other. From that, I got the chance to experience two completely different organisations, one which deals in the financial industry and is very corporate-like and another which is a marketing technology startup. I could see what I liked and did not like and in doing so I got a job straight away without much hassle with grad applications. I also got to be part of a wonderful society Techsoc (formerly BiG IT) and did a lot of cool stuff with them. I also got to be able to tutor Applications Programming in my final year which was an amazing experience especially from someone who hardly coded before university. From the BiT program and with UTS, I got to actually code and is now one of the biggest joys in my life when I am learning to code or even teaching coding. Overall, the BiT program was a program which had a huge impact on my life. It was not just the actual subjects, but the industry experiences and more importantly the friends that I have made throughout the program that had a very positive effect on my life. I truly hope that your journey through the BiT program will have a similar effect on your life and even though there may be some hard and irritating things throughout, it will be an amazing experience for you. Good Luck! Ramu Udaiyappan 2016 BIT Cohort

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BIT Society The BIT Society (BITsoc) is a community of BIT Co-op students across all cohorts. If you have enrolled in the BIT course, you’re already a member! The BIT Society aims to organise and facilitate extra-curricular initiatives & activities for BIT students including a BIT Mentoring Program and Welcome Dinner. These will be great ways to get to know the people you'll be experiencing uni with over the next few years.

BIT Committee (BITCOM)

BITsoc is student-run and organised by some experienced BIT students as a part of BITCOM. If you’d like to help us run events/initiatives and contribute to the future of BIT culture, keep an eye out for the expression of interest or reach out to some older BITs.

BIT Facebook Group We’ve created a cohort Facebook Group. You can coordinate timetables, organise events, share memes, or do whatever you like. This is where we will make announcements and keep you updated on new events and opportunities relating to BIT. Once you join, we’ll also add you to our larger BIT student/alumni Facebook group. UTS BIT Cohort 2021 Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/219141636326190/

Upcoming Events We have a number of events coming up in 2021 designed to familiarise you with your new community of BITs.

● BIT Welcome Day (Saturday 6th February) ● BIT Mentoring Program ● BIT Welcome Dinner (Thursday 18th February) ● Mid-semester social (TBA) ● Half-yearly cross-cohort social (TBA)

We will keep you updated with the details of these events through our Facebook group. Let us know if you have any ideas on events you want to see!

BIT Mentoring/Buddy Program

If you would like to get to know an older BIT to discuss academics, life, uni concerns, please complete this form and tell us a bit about yourself so we can match you to an appropriate student mentor. Google Form Link: https://forms.gle/N5dWN5n8Fro8Tamy6  

 

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Faculty Societies 

Student societies form an integral part of UTS’s student culture and voice. While the BIT program provides you with a strong community of reliable friends, we strongly encourage you to join a FEIT faculty society in 2021. FEIT societies provide the best chance of meeting other people who study IT. Here are a few FEIT societies related to BIT that may interest you:

Tech Society The UTS Tech Society caters for everyone in IT. This society commands the highest levels of BIT participation and input year after year - by a huge margin. If you have a keen interest in technology and social events, we highly recommend that you join. TechSoc hosts a number of social events that are heavily subsidised by the university so students like you can expand your social group to include like-minded peers from different degrees. If you are looking to extend your participation in uni activities, joining the executive team is a great opportunity to add to your portfolio, manage projects, consult with industry, collaborate with others and make new friends. Keep an eye out for first-year elections! Follow us on Facebook today to keep up with everything we’re doing - it’s free! Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UTSTechSoc ActivateUTS Signup: https://activateuts.com.au/clubs/techsoc2

Programming Society The University of Technology, Sydney Programmers' Society is a group dedicated to sharing information and resources in order to encourage learning in Information Technology, particularly in the area of programming. UTS ProgSoc has a variety of ongoing projects and events, and volunteers are always encouraged to contribute. The club has members experienced in Java, C, C#, PHP, Ruby, and many other programming languages. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ProgSoc/ ActivateUTS Signup: https://activateuts.com.au/clubs/programmers-society-progsoc

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Cyber Security Society The UTS Cyber Security Society (CSEC) strives to promote cybersecurity at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). Whether you're a student, industry professional, or someone in another field - we want to build a culture that makes us the leading hub of cybersecurity skills development. You could be a part of that. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UTSCSEC/ ActivateUTS Signup: https://activateuts.com.au/clubs/cyber-security-society

WIEIT Inspire. Educate. Empower. UTS Women in Engineering and IT (WiEIT) Program fosters a network of passionate females and males who are actively involved in the development of our next generation of young engineering and IT professionals. We’re growing and connecting the network of women in engineering, IT and the broader technology sector within UTS and into industry and the greater community. Join us for our weekly coffee hours in the WiEIT 'Cube' space, talks, and events, including for first-year students. Website: https://www.uts.edu.au/about/faculty-engineering-and-information-technology/women-engineering-and-it

How to join a society

ActivateUTS, the organisation overseeing all university societies has a centralised system for society signups. We recommend signing up as soon as you get your UTS student number and email credentials.

1. Go to https://activateuts.com.au/clubs 2. Locate your society of choice 3. Click ‘Join’ 4. Create an account with your UTS Student Number 5. Checkout with a debit card or PayPal (Cash payments are no longer accepted, even on O’Day)

You can have a chat with each society on O’Day. However, you will still need to use a computer/smartphone and debit card to sign up for clubs and societies.

Lucy Mentoring Program The Lucy Mentoring Program connects women studying engineering or technology at UTS to industry professionals for one-on-one mentoring. The program empowers women to set goals and work towards achieving them with the support of a mentor, preparing students for a successful career in engineering or technology. This mentoring opportunity is open to all women, including cis- and trans- women, studying undergraduate degrees 2nd year and above or Masters by Coursework. The program runs from March to September and has five checkpoints, giving students the opportunity to connect with their mentors and other mentoring pairs. It is recommended that students spend a minimum of 20 hours with their mentors one on one.

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Quick tips for Uni

#1 Make your timetable as a group Classes are more fun with friends that you can rely on. This makes group projects less stressful - believe us when we say this. If there’s one thing you should take away from this document - it is to make your timetable together. Pick the same tutorial numbers and have a backup in case it fills up. #2 Schedule your classes tactically Try to schedule your classes without gaps (unless you’re accounting for lunch). Subjects in the first year usually have a lecture and then a number of tutorial classes afterwards. Protip: Back-to-back classes are better than waiting an hour or two for the next class. Also aim to schedule your subjects in a few days as possible. Opal and lunch can add up and it can get pretty tiring to commute every day for classes that take 1-2 hours. Condensing your timetable will mean that you can have 4-5 day weekends or keep a part-time job on the side - to accelerate your savings. For example, most of the 2017 cohort overloaded in their second year (5 subjects instead of 4), placing classes and lectures back to back for 6-8 hours on Mondays and Tuesdays. It sounds intense but it’s no different to high school timetabling so we all made it through the other end - mostly in one piece! #3 Study spaces If you are looking for spaces to study in between classes, your best bet is in Buildings 11 or 2. Buildings 1, 3, 5, 6 & 8 all tend to fill up very quickly. There are pretty good spaces to study within Building 11 including FLP (CB11.05.300) and study spaces on levels B3 to 5. However in most cases, you’ll have to come before lunch if you want to have a guaranteed seat. Also, the new Building 2 has a lot of space to study too, as the new library has recently opened up there, again coming before lunch is your best bet at finding a seat. If you have a group project, there are several pods and study rooms that can be booked online from the UTS Library website (https://www.lib.uts.edu.au/). In peak periods expect to book at least 4 days in advance. Also, remember your HDMI adaptors so you can connect your laptops to the screens. #4 Food Here are a suggested few food outlets that are within reasonable walking distance of Building 11. Have lunch in groups - it’s definitely how a lot of us got to know each other.

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BYO ● Microwaves exist throughout Building 11, usually around student common areas. These include the Faculty Learning Precinct [FLP] on Level 5 (CB11.05.300) and kitchenettes located on levels 4, 0 and B1. Hot water is also available at these locations

● More information on kitchenette facilities and study spaces around the UTS Campus can be found here: https://www.uts.edu.au/about/about-our-campus/our-campus/student-spaces-campus

Cheap food (~$7) ● Satang Thai & Jumbo Thai (both near UTS Building 5) ● Woolies chicken (bring cutlery lmao) ● Fast food outlets (including Maccas, KFC, Oporto, Subway)

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Mid-range (~$10) ● UTS Food Court (located on level 3 in Building 2) including HSP/Kebab, Mad Mex, Pappa Rich and Sushi World

● Penny Lane (located on level 1 in Building 11) - daily specials ● The Hub house diner (American burgers, halfway between

Building 11 and Broadway Shopping Centre) ● The food court in Central Park Mall (opposite Building 1) ● Sushi Hub (Near Central Station) ● TJ Sushi (near Building 11) ● Two Wolves (Mexican and drinks - great for gatherings, near

Broadway) ● The Small Lemongrass (near Building 6 & The Goods Line)

Higher-end (~$15) ● Penny Lane - normal meals (inside Building 11, Level 1) ● Gami Chicken (Korean Fried Chicken) & Coco Cubano (located

inside in Central Park Mall) ● Din Tai Fung (dumplings) ● Grill’d & Nandos (Broadway food-court) ● Spice Alley

Drinks ● Cornerstone Cafe (coffee in Building 7) ● Cafe 10 (coffee in Building 10) ● The Terrace (coffee inside UTS food court and outside the UTS

Library in Building 2) ● Gocha (Next to UTS Underground/Loft) ● Chatime (Central Park, and in Building 2 food court) ● Boost (near Central Park Mall & Central Station) ● Coco (Near Central Station) ● Starbucks (across from Building 11) ● Top Juice (Central Park Mall) ● UTS Underground / The Loft