Valedictory Address
Good afternoon Madam Chancellor, the Honorable Dr David Kemp, faculty, guests and students. It is a great honor to be here.
It's hard to believe that less than two years ago, I hadn't even begun this degree, yet with the flexible course structure unique to Bond University, here I am. And with the superb teaching staff and excellent facilities, Bond University's computing science degree must surely be regarded as one of the finest in Australia.
It is my belief that the computer is the most powerful and versatile tool ever devised. Indeed, while developments such as the steam engine have had a huge impact on society, no tool has been applied so generally and to such an extent as to even approach that of the computer. Unfortunately, as is true of any powerful tool, there are dangers in its misuse, and we must be aware of this additional responsibility.
Interestingly, computer science is among a relatively small number of fields to be based around a single tool. It is also a relatively new field, with even the earliest developments occurring only 50 or so years ago.
Computer science has come a long way in that 50 years. We have moved from huge, slow, expensive machines of little practical value except for computation, to small but powerful machines that are, today, as much a part of life as a television. It is an interesting exercise just to try and count the number of appliances containing silicon chips or integrated circuits in a typical household. A good starting list might be the television, video, stereo, telephone, microwave, sewing machine and so on...
Today, computers affect every facet of life. Electronic communications continue to make the world smaller. Information storage and retrieval tasks such as legal precedence searches, which were once a time-consuming and thus an expensive task, can now be performed quickly, cheaply, accurately and with great ease. Documents whose authorship has been disputed can now be determined through the use of pattern-matching techniques, and business decisions have been assisted through data-analysis techniques and access to relevant information.
In medicine, computers help to reduce suffering by providing fast and accurate means of diagnosis, and for the handicapped, computers allow a full professional life to be carried out. One only needs to see Dr Stephen Hawking, who many of you will have seen on TV. Although unable to speak or move, he is able to give complete lectures through the use of speech synthesis and robotics. Current research in this area indicates that in the foreseeable future we may soon see voice-controlled wheelchairs, and perhaps even computer-aided vision for the blind.
Virtual reality, or the ability to simulate a situation from a distance, will soon remove the need for humans to put themselves in dangerous situations, such as those often found in subterranean mining. Thus, today's periodic disasters will become a thing of the past.
Disasters caused by human error will also be reduced, through the use of advanced collision avoidance systems, primitive versions of which can already be found in fields such as air traffic control.
Computer science is an exciting field, and development will certainly continue throughout the foreseeable future. Today, every professional person needs to have a working knowledge of the use of computers, and an awareness of the substantial developments taking place around them. Thanks to the forward-looking attitude of Bond University, all graduates have this knowledge, as well as extensive experience with the latest hardware and software platforms. As a result, we are all well-prepared for the exciting future that awaits us.
On this important day, I'm sure we are all very proud to have achieved something that we have been working towards all of our lives.
On behalf of all the students, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff for their expertise, enthusiasm and friendship. I personally have found them to be extremely approachable and always interested in my activities. On the strength of the staff alone, I would certainly recommend Bond University to others.
To all those graduating today, congratulations. I hope all your plans and dreams come true...