Graduation today, Google tomorrow

Engineering graduate Max Koopman will soon leave the sandstone walls of The University of Queensland for the technological allure of Google’s headquarters in Mountain View, California.

Graduating with a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) Software, Max developed an interest in technology and programming at a young age.

“I received my first programmable robotics kit when I was eight years old, and have been obsessed ever since,” Max said.

“Long before it was offered at school, I was teaching myself to code and throughout my school life I was always working on a handful of side projects, from games and apps to increasingly complex robots.

“During university I took part in team programming competitions, where one of my team mates was a UQ student with a job lined up at Google.”

For Max, that networking connection proved to be the kick-start to his career.

“He approached me the next year and said that I’d really love it there, so he referred me, and within a few days I began my technical interviews.

“The final interview was a massive five hour session in their Sydney office, which was pretty challenging, but which I’m excited to say paid off,” Max said.

Max is keen to begin his  career with the internet’s most used website.

“I’m really excited to be thrown in the deep end as a Google Software Engineer and to be surrounded by some of the best minds in the industry,” Max said.

“Longer term, I am really passionate about entrepreneurship and innovation, and Silicon Valley is definitely the best place for that right now.

“Over the last summer, I founded an educational technology company here in Brisbane, and I would love the chance to be part of the much larger start-up scene over there at some time in the future.

“I am particularly passionate about innovation, and I would say Google is the best place in the world to do that right now.

Max graduates amongst 540 engineering students today.

UQ Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Peter Høj said each student graduating from UQ was gaining a qualification from a world-class university.

“UQ is consistently well inside the world’s top 100 in all major global university rankings, and two of these currently place UQ in the world’s top 50,” Professor Høj said.

Professor Høj said the December graduates would join UQ’s 232,000-strong alumni group – including more than 12,000 PhDs – in at least 170 countries.

Prospective students can see key dates for QTAC applications and offer rounds here.  

They can also contact UQ Admissions on (07) 3365 2203 or admissionsenquiries@uq.edu.au for information.

Instagram photos hashtagged #UQmemories or #UQalumni will be added to UQ’s December graduation collection.

Media: Madelene Flanagan, m.flanagan@uq.edu.au, +61 7 3365 8525