Big Data, Big Future

Dreams derailed

Back in the early 90s, Amir Tukic’s parents fled war-ravaged Bosnia looking for a new life. His father was a mechanic, studying to be a mechanical engineer, while his mother had trained as an accountant. The life they had planned with their young daughter was violently disrupted, and they found themselves on the way to Australia as refugees. When they settled, they found their career trajectories had been derailed as their qualifications were not recognised. His father’s engineering studies had to be abandoned. Like many refugee and migrant families, they dreamt of the opportunities their children might have for an education, leading to a secure and peaceful life.  

Education transforms lives 

Amir was born a year after his parents’ arrival, and like many future engineers, spent much of his childhood tinkering with the old computers his parents bought him, taking them apart and reconfiguring them. Amir’s parents recognised that his extensive computer time was not merely a distraction from schoolwork, but a serious interest with the potential for a stable and financially rewarding career. They began to let go of their ambition for him to become a lawyer or doctor. 

“If my parents had stayed in Bosnia, I probably would not have even been born, they would not have been able to afford a second kid,” says Amir. “If I had grown up there, it’s unlikely we would have had the resources to give me computer parts to play around with, let alone an education or opportunities I’ve had in Australia.”   

Amir started out his tertiary education at UTS in telecommunications, but in an unexpected plot twist, he was compelled to switch majors in second year. He chose data engineering because of the scope and variety of ways it could be applied. 

I thought to myself, look – data engineering is where it's at! The future is going there. I got into engineering to solve problems, and there's a lot of problems that can be solved with data engineering.

Data science engineering solves real-world problems 

Amir was motivated to think about how data could positively affect daily lives. He became interested in transport, writing his 4th-year thesis on what causes buses to be late, approaching an everyday problem through the lens of data analytics.* He created the ‘RTV Explorer,’ a custom data analytics platform, which will soon be hosted by the UTS Transport Research Centre. 

“From a technical perspective, it was an awesome challenge. The data showed us what is causing these buses to be late or early, which means operators can add or reduce services. That means buses are on time, which is something that I am passionate about. Like, I catch a bus every day and I'm so sick of them being late.” 

Access and equity 

The interest in public transport runs deeper than personal convenience. Identifying efficiencies can prompt improved access to public transport in underserviced communities, supporting those economies. Access to high-speed internet in regional areas is another interest, as it gives people a whole range of ways to participate in the economy and society. “It helps everyday people. Just helping them on is a great thing.” 

Amir is also passionate about diversity and enabling the untapped potential of people who have reduced access to opportunities. In particular, the inclusion of female workers in the engineering and IT fields. 

Data engineers, and pretty much all engineering disciplines need to work toward solving problems like climate change. The more brains and diverse thinking we have on this, the better. As engineers, we have an ethical responsibility to be considering that at all times.

Future opportunities 

Amir secured a full-time job as a systems engineer at Flare, (a company that deals in HR and financial wellness), while he was still a student. “I was in a nice position to apply because of all the internships I had done from the UTS diploma. I had real work experience before I left.”  

He is interested in image recognition, APIs, machine learning and AI (artificial intelligence). These are all areas of growth. “There is a lot of demand for data science engineers, there are a lot of pathways for me to go down.” The high demand and good salary mean his financial security is assured.  

“There will always be a spot for people with the technical and soft skills that we get at UTS.” 

Why UTS?  

The central location and diversity of local and overseas students first attracted Amir to UTS, but it was the internships and studios that he appreciated most.  

"The studios are amazing, and I recommend them, you can actually find all these cool projects, you can upskill and really learn about stuff that we know is in demand right now so that we're ready for the industry. “ 

"Studios gave me a lot of room to explore and expand my technical knowledge and more importantly, we were exposed to partnerships. I was able to work with researchers here internally at UTS on some really cool, interesting problems. And I got to work with industry for Ericsson. They have partnerships with big companies that we worked with even at the start of my university degree, which is really cool. So, I don't think you will find that anywhere else. “ 

“I had real-world experience and a job before I left uni...”  

"At first, the internships looked daunting to me. But then I realised that a lot of people don't set time aside for internships and they graduate with no industry experience. It was a big bonus for me, 'cause let's be real, that's where you really learn – actually practice it in the real world.” 

During his time at UTS the internship team helped Amir secure places with Dandelions and Deloitte. “It's nice on the resume and people are going to hire you if you've got actual experience in the workplace.”  

Full circle  

Today Amir’s parents could not be prouder of his achievements. At 25, the new graduate does not know exactly where he would like to be when he is his parents' age, however, he feels he will still be working in data analytics because of its potential to express his values in countless areas and solve problems. The future that his parents had imagined for themselves was interrupted by forces they could not control. With their support, Amir has been successful in realising his dreams through studying at UTS. 

“They've motivated me, they kept me going and now they are super proud of me and they're like ‘You just secured yourself’ because I got that work experience on top of my university learning. And now that I've graduated, although I haven't had my ceremony yet, they're already celebrating!” 

*Tukic, Amir – Utilising Data Analytics to Identify Running Time Variability, on Bus Transit Systems, UTS, 2021

Find out more about the Data Science Engineering major in undergraduate Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) Diploma in Professional Engineering Practice at UTS.