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Friday, 18 January 2002

A former pupil of St Mark's College in Port Pirie, Ryan Arbon, is the winner of the 2002 Andy Thomas Scholarship awarded by Adelaide University.

The prestigious scholarship - valued at approx. $100,000 - will cover Ryan's tuition fees and support him with a living allowance of $5,000 a year for four years as he undertakes a Bachelor of Engineering (Mechatronic)/Bachelor of Arts double degree.

"Winning the scholarship is a huge help," he said. " It means I will really be able to focus on my studies and not have to get a part-time job to support myself. It's also a great honour, because only one Andy Thomas Scholarship is offered each year."

Ryan achieved a perfect Year 12 score in 2000 and deferred his tertiary studies for a year to gain work experience in the engineering industry. For the past 12 months, he has worked full time at ATCO Power Australia's head office in Adelaide and at the company's Osborne Cogeneration Plant. He has also tutored in Year 12 maths, physics and chemistry at nights.

Looking to the future, he says he has "many ambitions".

"I would love to be a part of a design or project team because I like creating things. I also really want to be able to utilise my skills to make a contribution to humanity.

"I envision that soon after I graduate I will be required to relocate abroad for opportunities to fulfil my aspirations. I hope to have consolidated a role in a project team with the possibility of returning to Australia later in my career to use my experience to contribute to developing our global competitiveness in my field."

The Andy Thomas Scholarship honours astronaut Andy Thomas, who is an Adelaide University engineering graduate.