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UWA Software Engineering graduate, Mark Shelton, has received the prestigious Australian Computer Society (ACS) 1962 prize.

The 1962 Prize is awarded to the best Information and Communication Technology (ICT) graduate from a Western Australian University for that year and is so named because 1962 was the year of the first computer installation in Western Australia by Professor Dennis Moore.

Professor Dennis Moore is the father-figure of computing in WA and presented the award at the sixth ACS Dennis Moore Distinguished Oration held at the University Club at UWA.

“It is an honour to accept the ACS 1962 prize. I am so glad that I took the plunge and switched to Computer Science midway through my degree. The technical skills that I learnt in my degree will definitely help me have a greater positive impact on the world. Thank you to Dennis Moore and the ACS for this award, and UWA, the Fogarty Foundation and St Catherine's College for their support throughout my degree,” said Mark.

“Mark Shelton is one of the most talented computer scientists I have assessed, easily top 1%. This opinion is based on Mark’s honours thesis which was to test a range of artificial intelligence (AI) engines and deploy a combination to create a predictor of early stage Venture Capital project success,” said Associate Professor Michael Wise, from the UWA School of Computer Science and Software Engineering (CSSE).

At only 23 years old, Mark has also been actively involved in the WA community. From 2013 to 2017 Mark led Bloom, a non-profit organisation he co-founded to encourage, support and advocate for young entrepreneurs in WA. While at Bloom, Mark also founded Code WA, a community of young software developers that now has more than 300 members.

Mark was also recently awarded the John Monash Scholarship, which provides $65,000p.a for up to three years to study a postgraduate degree anywhere in the world. Mark intends to use the scholarship to study a Masters in Computer Science in the United States. Mark hopes to later return to Australia to continue fostering our local technology startup ecosystem.

Dr Bob Cross, Chairman of the 1962 Prize Committee, believes that Mark will move into IT at a senior level given his inspiring success to date.

For more information on Mark Shelton, please visit: https://markshelton.me/

Media references

Hannah Carlisle (Marketing Officer, Faculty of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences) (+61 8) 6488 5079