Computer and maths whiz set to graduate

14 April 2016

Computer and maths whiz set to graduate

Tom Levy has done some pretty cool things at university. Aside from all the learning, Tom, who graduates this month with a Bachelor of Computing and Mathematical Sciences with first class honours, managed to fit in two internships at Google in Sydney, a couple of Summer Research Scholarships, and international travel for programming competitions.

The journey to computer science for the former Hillcrest High School student seems predestined. Both of his parents are computer programmers, and he can’t remember a time when he wasn’t interested in computers.

At Waikato, Tom majored in computer science and mathematics and says the combination of the two worked well for him. “The rigour of maths appealed to me, but then I also enjoyed the relative freedom of programming, where there are less boundaries and more scope for creativity,” he says.

Tom excelled in his studies, with an A+ average. He travelled to Russia, Italy, Thailand and Australia with teams competing in international programming contests. “It was exciting to compete against the best teams in the world. “Losing to them wasn’t fun – but it was very humbling,” he says. “I was also able to take a bit of time out to see some of the countries, and I really enjoyed visiting Russia – St. Petersburg and Moscow were a highlight.”

He’s won several academic awards, including prizes for most outstanding mathematics student, top student in his faculty, and three Dean’s Awards for Excellence in the Faculty of Computing and Mathematical Science.

His Google internships were a highlight for him, his most recent one finishing in February of this year. He was put up in apartments with fellow Google interns, took advantage of the infamous free lunches and staff perks, and was exposed to new ideas and learnt a new programming language.

Tom also tutored an undergraduate maths course at university and programming at his old high school.

For now though, Tom will be taking a well-earned rest before deciding on his next move.

“After I graduate I’ll take a bit of time off, then start looking at my PhD options overseas – most likely in the US or the UK. I think I’ll be in academia for a while yet.”

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