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Under a collaboration between the University of South Australia and Saab, selected Bachelor of Software Engineering students have undertaken an exchange and internship package in Sweden, before returning to Adelaide for potential ongoing employment at Saab Australia.
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Final year UniSA student Nicole Carter was one of the first three UniSA students to head to Sweden and return to Australia with offers for ongoing employment at Saab in Adelaide.
Carter undertook an exchange semester at UniSA’s partner Swedish university, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, followed by a five-week internship at Saab Sweden HQ in Järfälle.
"The three of us, along with two Swedish interns from KTH formed a new software team within the surveillance business unit. Our focus was creating automated ‘smoke tests’ for one of Saab’s oldest products, and to visualise these in a web app that would be easy to understand for non-technical managers or customers," Carter explained.
Carter said she learnt a lot from Saab’s modern approach to software development. Now back in Adelaide, Carter added that she appreciated how useful the internship has been for putting faces to names.
"The exchange was incredible. We are now working with the same team that we collaborated with in Sweden," she said.
Saab Adelaide head of discipline software, Geoff Stephens, said the internship program provides a hugely valuable orientation to the company’s working approach.
"Collaboration between both countries happens on a daily basis in our software teams, so this was an excellent experience for the students to witness first-hand," Stephens said.
The exchange and internship package builds on a strong relationship between UniSA and Saab.
UniSA head of the School of Information Technology and Mathematical Science, Professor Brenton Dansie, said UniSA and Saab have a strong strategic alliance through the creation of the Defence Technologies Institute (DTI).
Professor Dansie added, "Providing opportunities for students to develop the skills required for future defence projects in South Australia is also a key priority for the DTI.
"The international exchange and internship package with KTH and Saab Sweden is an excellent outcome of this commitment to the future."
The exchange package is mirrored at Sweden’s end. Students from KTH in Stockholm come to Adelaide each year for an exchange semester at UniSA, followed by the internship at SAAB Adelaide, based in Technology Park, nearby the university campus.
Stephen Kuper
Steve has an extensive career across government, defence industry and advocacy, having previously worked for cabinet ministers at both Federal and State levels.
