Student profiles

Jignesh Patel
Master of Information Technology (Professional), 2009
Melbourne Burwood Campus
Currently: Infrastructure engineer, Accenture, Melbourne

Jignesh Patel has held a lifetime fascination with information technology which started as an interest in high school and slowly grew to become a career passion. Originally from India, Jignesh studied an undergraduate IT degree in his home country where he particularly enjoyed learning about IT networking.

‘It was then I decided to do a masters degree and chose a Master of Information Technology (Professional) - with majors in network computing and IT security - from Deakin,’ he explains.

Jignesh now works as an infrastructure engineer with Accenture in Melbourne and says Deakin’s Master of Information Technology program prepared him for ‘real world’ experience.

‘It provided me theoretical and practical technical knowledge with hands-on practical experience, not only in networking and security, but also in software development and IT services.’

He says the course provided him with the opportunity to gain Cisco certification and also delivered valuable Industry-Based Learning (IBL).

‘IBL gave me an opportunity to work in the IT industry (at a Geelong IT company) to learn and explore my technical knowledge in real life industry. I was also able to improve my communication and time-management skills.’

During the two-year course, Jignesh says there were many other ‘great opportunities’ that enhanced his study experience.

‘I worked in peer and orientation support (helping familiarise new students with university, living and transport in Australia), the Deakin Studies Online help desk, the Deakin Library and also gained experience as a tutor for undergraduate IT units.’

Jignesh sees his future career firmly cemented as a data centre and networking specialist.

‘Since I have an opportunity to work with many data centre technologies such as storage, virtualisation and networking, I want to utilise what I have studied in my postgraduate studies,’ he says.

In his current role, he specialises in data centre technology and virtualisation using VMware, Vblock, Symmetric storage and Citrix technologies.

‘I enjoy learning about, and working with, new technology every day. I also enjoy working in a team of technical experts where I learn not only new technology but also have the opportunity to improve my technical skills and achieve my career goals.’