{"id":94897,"date":"2021-07-06T00:02:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-05T14:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fnarena.com\/index.php\/2021\/07\/06\/airwallex-ceo-recognised-for-engineering-excellence-by-the-university-of-melbourne-plans-to-boost-australias-tech-talent-pool-with-new-engineering-hub-in-sydn\/"},"modified":"2021-07-06T00:02:00","modified_gmt":"2021-07-05T14:02:00","slug":"airwallex-ceo-recognised-for-engineering-excellence-by-the-university-of-melbourne-plans-to-boost-australias-tech-talent-pool-with-new-engineering-hub-in-sydn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.fnarena.com\/index.php\/2021\/07\/06\/airwallex-ceo-recognised-for-engineering-excellence-by-the-university-of-melbourne-plans-to-boost-australias-tech-talent-pool-with-new-engineering-hub-in-sydn\/","title":{"rendered":"Airwallex CEO recognised for engineering excellence by the University of Melbourne; plans to boost Australia&#8217;s tech talent pool with new engineering hub in Sydn"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li><i><span class=\"xn-person\">Jack Zhang<\/span> becomes the first tech leader to be awarded the prestigious Kernot Memorial Medal by the <span class=\"xn-org\">University of Melbourne<\/span><\/i> <\/li>\n<li><i>Airwallex strengthens its engineering capabilities in <span class=\"xn-location\">Australia<\/span> by launching a new engineering hub in <span class=\"xn-location\">Sydney<\/span>, in addition to its existing hub in <span class=\"xn-location\">Melbourne<\/span><\/i><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span class=\"xn-location\">MELBOURNE, Australia<\/span>, July <span id=\"spanHghltbbd5\">5,<\/span> 2021 \/PRNewswire\/ &#8212; <span class=\"xn-person\">Jack Zhang<\/span>, Co-founder and CEO of <u><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.airwallex.com\/au\" rel=\"nofollow\">Airwallex<\/a><\/u>, has been awarded the <i><span class=\"xn-org\">University of Melbourne<\/span> Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology&#8217;s Kernot Memorial Medal <\/i>for engineering excellence. In addition, Airwallex also announced today the opening of its second engineering hub in <span class=\"xn-location\">Australia<\/span>, based in <span class=\"xn-location\">Sydney<\/span>. This comes as Airwallex continues to accelerate its hypergrowth momentum, with the <u><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.airwallex.com\/media\/press\/airwallexs-latest-capital-increases-valuation\" rel=\"nofollow\">company&#8217;s valuation increasing to <span class=\"xn-money\">US$2.6 billion<\/span><\/a><\/u> after a recent capital raising of <span class=\"xn-money\">US$100 million<\/span> earlier this year.<\/p>\n<p><b>First tech leader to receive the Kernot Memorial Medal <\/b><\/p>\n<p>In the Kernot Memorial Medal&#8217;s 95-year history, Zhang is the first recipient from an information technology (IT) background, with the University expanding the award criteria to recognise tech innovators of the future. This recognition also acknowledges the changing role of engineering in society \u2013 shifting the focus on physical assets and large infrastructure to incorporate future focused technology and innovation.<\/p>\n<p>The <i>Kernot Memorial Medal<\/i> was established in memory of Professor <span class=\"xn-person\">William Charles Kernot<\/span>, the first professor of Engineering at the <span class=\"xn-org\">University of Melbourne<\/span>. The award traditionally recognises distinguished engineering figures in <span class=\"xn-location\">Australia<\/span>. Previous recipients include Sir <span class=\"xn-person\">John Monash<\/span>, construction magnate <span class=\"xn-person\">John Holland<\/span> and civil engineer <span class=\"xn-person\">Donald Victor Darwin<\/span>. <\/p>\n<p>Zhang, a Computer Science graduate from the <span class=\"xn-org\">University of Melbourne<\/span>, has led a distinguished career in <span class=\"xn-location\">Australia&#8217;s<\/span> financial technology sector. Working as a technical lead for major banks including NAB and ANZ, Zhang co-founded Airwallex with four friends in 2015, three of which were also <span class=\"xn-org\">University of Melbourne<\/span> alumni. The business has rapidly grown to become one of the world&#8217;s leading technology companies, achieving the title of <span class=\"xn-location\">Australia&#8217;s<\/span> fastest-grown tech unicorn, and raising over <span class=\"xn-money\">US$500 million<\/span> in equity funds to date. <\/p>\n<p>Speaking on the award win, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology, <b>Professor <span class=\"xn-person\">Mark Cassidy<\/span><\/b>, said, &#034;We are proud of the incredible progress Jack has made in his career with Airwallex and the leadership he shows in the tech space. Recognising Jack&#8217;s achievement with the Kernot Memorial Medal, the first time a tech leader has been honoured in this way, acknowledges the growing role of technology and entrepreneurship in society. We can&#8217;t wait to see what Jack does next and look forward to strengthening our relationship with him!&#034; <\/p>\n<p>Zhang responded to the award win as a significant moment in his career. &#034;As a <span class=\"xn-org\">University of Melbourne<\/span> alumni, I am honored to have received such a prestigious award, and to be recognised as the first tech leader to be awarded with the Kernot Memorial Medal,&#034; said Mr Zhang.<\/p>\n<p>&#034;Inspired by the approach of my professors during my time at the <span class=\"xn-org\">University of Melbourne<\/span>, I&#8217;ve been driven to look beyond what&#8217;s possible and solve tough engineering challenges every day. This ethos is a key part of the product and engineering culture at Airwallex &#8211; from our leadership team to our internship program &#8211; and I hope this inspires talented engineers to forge their careers at Airwallex.<\/p>\n<p>&#034;I am so proud of what we have achieved with our global financial infrastructure, and this award reinforces the excellence of our technology and innovation. We are truly on our way to realising our vision to be the global financial cloud to empower businesses to operate anywhere, anytime.&#034;<\/p>\n<p><b>New engineering hub in <span class=\"xn-location\">Sydney<\/span> will boost local talent pool<\/b><\/p>\n<p>To continue its pursuit of engineering excellence, Airwallex&#8217;s growing <span class=\"xn-location\">Sydney<\/span> team will house the company&#8217;s second Australian engineering hub. Similar to its existing <span class=\"xn-location\">Melbourne<\/span> hub, <span class=\"xn-location\">Sydney&#8217;s<\/span> engineering team will focus on research and development in new products and enhancements for Airwallex&#8217;s global financial platform.<\/p>\n<p>The company currently employs over 50 engineers in <span class=\"xn-location\">Australia<\/span>, and plans to double that number across <span class=\"xn-location\">Sydney<\/span> and <span class=\"xn-location\">Melbourne<\/span> by the end of 2021. Outside of <span class=\"xn-location\">Australia<\/span>, Airwallex has engineering hubs in <span class=\"xn-location\">San Francisco<\/span>, <span class=\"xn-location\">Shanghai<\/span> and <span class=\"xn-location\">the Netherlands<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>&#034;<span class=\"xn-location\">Melbourne&#8217;s<\/span> engineering hub has played a pivotal role in Airwallex, with many of our recent products beginning its development there, such as our core banking platform and multi-currency Visa debit cards. After witnessing the big impact our <span class=\"xn-location\">Melbourne<\/span> team has had on the development of our platform and products, it was a no-brainer to open our fifth engineering hub in <span class=\"xn-location\">Sydney<\/span>. This new hub allows us to invest in the growing tech talent pool in <span class=\"xn-location\">Sydney<\/span>, which we look forward to welcoming to our team,&#034; said Mr Zhang.<\/p>\n<p><b>About Airwallex<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Airwallex is a global fintech payment platform with a mission to empower businesses of all sizes to grow without borders, and by doing so, contribute to the global economy. With technology at its core, Airwallex has built a global financial infrastructure and platform to help businesses to manage payments, treasury and expenses internationally, without the constraints of the traditional financial system. <\/p>\n<p>Airwallex has secured over <span class=\"xn-money\">US$500 million<\/span> since it was established in <span class=\"xn-location\">Melbourne<\/span> in 2015, and is backed by world-leading investors. Today, the business operates with a team of over 800 employees across 12 global offices. For more information, please visit <u><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.airwallex.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow\">www.airwallex.com<\/a><\/u><\/p>\n<p>Related Links :<\/p>\n<p>http:\/\/www.airwallex.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jack Zhang becomes the first tech leader to be awarded the prestigious Kernot Memorial Medal by the University of Melbourne&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[105],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.fnarena.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94897"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.fnarena.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.fnarena.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.fnarena.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.fnarena.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging.fnarena.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94897\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.fnarena.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.fnarena.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.fnarena.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}