Martinus Azaryah is a 2-year MSPPM student for 2011-2012. He has an engineering background and work experience in a garment factory and as an auditor for the Indonesian government. He describes himself as having a humorous personality but wanting to graduate with good marks. He asks "Why so serious?" indicating he wants others not to take themselves too seriously. Benjamin Ortiz is from Argentina studying a 2-year MSPPM while working part-time in construction. He has a civil engineering background and hopes to learn GIS, which was not covered in his bachelor's degree. He enjoys soccer and was a rugby player. He looks forward to getting to know his classmates.

1. Martinus Azaryah
I am a 2 year MSPPM student for 2011-2012 period. My background degree is in engineering,
Industrial engineering to be precise. My work experience include working in the factory of
garment industry for one year as a system analyst (but not IT system), and as an auditor for
Indonesian government (2008-now).
I dont play soccer, i dont do surfing, I eat almost the same food as it was yesterday and the day
before and day before and so on. I dont like traveling, I think it waste of money that I hardly
collected, I dont like drinking, i think drinking is for a loser who just want to keep drunk all the
time and forget the reality, I dont smoke, I eat candy or chocolate instead, and I'm a guy not a
gay. I have a humorous personality and easy to approach (at list it was my impression for
myself). If you read my wiki and think that i sound like a grumpy old hag, well I am old, and right
now i just really want to graduate with a good mark......
Why so serious ????

2. Benjamin Ortiz
Hello everybody!!
I am Ben from Argentina, South America. Like many of you, a few years ago I would have never
thought I would end up studying so far from my hometown. However, this unique experience
proved to be worth it as well as enriching and life-changing. Besides taking the 2 year long
MSPPM I am working part time in a local construction company, so I am always juggling with
my time.
Having a civil engineering background encouraged me to undertake this course as GIS looms as
a paramount tool for any large project. Curiously, I did not have this course in my bachelor's
degree curriculum. I hope I can make the most of these 12 weeks and get familiar with this tool.
As to my personal life, I enjoy playing soccer and am a former amateur rugby player. Back in
Buenos Aires, I would attend every match Boca Juniors (the best and finest soccer team of
Argentina by far) played and I look forward to resuming that habit after graduation!! Even
though we will complete this class on line I am sure we will manage to get to know each other
on campus.
Cheers,
Ben

3. Chikezie Isiguzo
I am Chikezie (chi-ke-zie).
I am from Nigeria, an AUSAID scholar, on study leave from my employers the Central Bank of
Nigeria where I serve as Manager, Information System Audit .
My professional background include Accounting, Auditing, Enterprise Architecture, Information
System assurance and risk management.
I hope the course will help prepare me for the dynamic changes in the professional working
environment this generation is experiencing.
I also hope the class will allow me a new view of the world and presenteation/resolution of
issues through the perspective of GIS.
I have a lot to learn and know that each person has a lot to teach - and I expect to get the best
experience this class could give.
I am married with two pretty daughters (age 4years 10months and 1year 1month respectively)
I can't wait for December 2012 to be united with them, that is why I must do well and meet my
graduation date.

4. Cong Hoang
My name is Hoang Huu Cong (or Cong Hoang in English way :-) ), from Vietnam. I am studying
MSIT at CMU, Australia and in 2 years track. My background is in IT with few years experience
of software development. I just came Australia in January 2012. I also visited Belgium, South
Korea and US and Australia now is a new experience. Each country gives me a cool experience :-
).
I like playing and watching football (soccer), watching movies (action, science fiction and
comedy) and listening to music (love song or "soft" song, not rock music). Sometimes hang out
with friends in coffee shops to chat something and sometimes eat a lot :-).

5. Elizabeth Kioria
Am an a Master of Science in Public Policy and Management scholar, from Kenya taking the two
year session. This is my first Semester here at Carnegie Mellon University. I'm married and have
a 3 years and 8 months old daughter. I left my husband and daughter back in Kenya and hoping
that they will join me soon as I settle down. I love traveling, adventure or nature walks, reading
inspirational book, singing, meeting new people and watching movies. I have studied a
Bachelors Degree in International Business Administration, concentrating in Marketing. I have
also undertaken a Master of Arts in Organizational Management concentrating in Human
Resources Management.
My previous employment was in several Companies mainly in the Administration Department.
My past employment was in a National Assembly of Kenya Constituency office. I was
accountable to the Member of Parliament, of that Constituency, in the role of a Constituency
Manager. My job involved analyzing the challenges in the Constituency, deriving way to come
up with project to be funded by the Government under the Constituency Development fund to
tackle the challenges. This called for meetings with local leaders to discuss how the community
will become involved in owning and managing the projects. This was a challenging position that
involved a lot of planning, organizing and coordinating different events through out the
constituency.
I believe that studying Geographic Information Systems, will give me the skills and the
knowknowledgeanalanalyzinga that will be useful in making informed decisions. The class will
enable me interact with the faculty and fellow students that have fast experiences from
different countries therefore proppreparingto be a global partner in making a difference in the
world. Am looking forward to gaining more knowknowledgethe use of Geographic information
systems.

6. Hassam Raja
Hi Everyone
My name is Hassam Raja and I am from Pakistan. I am doing MSIT 2 year program at Carnegie
Mellon and I am graduating this December. My background is Computer Science and I have
three years experience working in technical consulting, software and web development. I am
interested in GIS since I am a part of a startup Bushfire Connect (www.bushfireconnect.org)
that maps bushfire emergencies all over Australia using the Ushahidi platform. I am interested
in learning data analysis using geographic mapping and deriving decisions based on them. I am
looking forward to an exciting journey through this course with you guys.
Regards
Hassam Raja

7. Jacqueline Belgica
Hi everyone!
I am Jacqueline Belgica from Manila, Philippines. You can call me Jacque. I am currently on my
3rd & last (Yay!) semester of my MSIT program.
I am a systems analyst back home, handling mostly SAP applications. I work for the Central Bank
of the Philippines, which is the bank of all banks. I am friendly, fun-loving and very positive
about life. Life is a continuous learning journey for me. I speak and write English, Filipino
(Tagalog) & Mandarin, but I know a little bit of Fookien too. I try to find time to learn new
things whenever I can (dressmaking, cosmetology, yoga, etc). I consider it a gift to be exposed
to many different cultures so I travel as much as I can (& as long as I am able to afford it.) I
believe that man is meant to explore the world so I try to discover it more one day at a time.
I read a lot of books, especially the works of Paulo Coelho and Sidney Sheldon in particular. I
like to keep myself updated with current events (although breaking news tend to be mostly
negative). Among my guilty (but unhealthy) pleasures is Hollywood gossip, so I take time to
read on those as well whenever I go online to check on the news. I always enjoy a good
conversation, especially with someone who is open-minded, insightful and smart.
Studying here at CMU has been quite an adventure. It has been a rich learning experience
working with people from such a diverse set of cultures. Living here in Adelaide (and away from
all the comforts of home) has taught me a lot on how it is to live independently. I discovered a
lot of things about myself here -- among them is that I can cook decent meals and can do
laundry!
As cliche as it sounds, I do want to change the world. How, I am still not sure! Although I am
looking at teaching part-time when I get back.. hopefully to impart some useful knowledge to
eager learners. I also want to start a fashion line once I am stable enough to fund one.
I am looking forward to learning a lot from this class and from all of you, so I hope we can do
that :)
Best x

8. Jaksha Shah
Hello Everyone,
I am currently doing my Masters in IT 5 semesters Management track. This is my 3rd semester
and just two go! :)
I come from India, Pune city. I completed my under-graduation as an IT Engineer.I decided to do
my masters as I wanted to develop my Management skills. Prior, coming to CMU-A I have
worked as an software application developer for two years at Bank of New York Mellon,
Chennai. My job description focused on enhancement and maintenance efforts in scripting. I
decided, to do GIS as I have heard from many students in the past the content of this course is
very good and also has demand in the industry. My take away from this course will be
understanding GIS concepts and applying to the real world problems.
In my personal life, I love to cook and try new things. I enjoy doing water, adventure sports and
travelling to new places.

9. Jimmy Galindo
Hi guys. I arrived to Australia a bit more than 1.5 years ago with my wife an my daughter full of
dreams. I got an undergraduate as a computer system engineer nearly 10 years ago and I
decided to start a master in Australia may be 4 years ago. Since that time I have to start planing
my new life in Australia due to impact of this decision in my our lives. Now, although some
times the situation is not exactly that I expected, I have enjoy a lot in this nearly two years.
I enrolled in this course just this week because at the beginning I did not think on taking GIS,
but I was told that this a very interesting tool that can help me get an important new
knowledge.

10. Kasimona Sichela
My Name is Kasimona Sichela. I am AusAID scholar from Zambia. My background is in
Computer Science. I have worked in Mining firm and later on two different health non
governmental organisations. I worked as data manager for my last employer and in the
course of my work, it became apparent that there was need to be able present reports
that show how geographical locations contribute to the reported indicators. An interest in
GIS was therefore birthed, hence my doing this course. I am particularly interested in how
i can be able to embed GIS functionality in software applications.
I find myself coming up with a lot of interesting ideas (of course i need to work on being
able to implement these). And i think i forgot to mention; i am doing the MSIT 3 semester
program.
I am not all about work though. I have a social life too! I have a beautiful wife and daugther (my
daughter just turned 1 today!!). They did not accompany me here and hence, i am having a
miserable time here. Cant wait to graduate in December, 2012 and be re-united with my family!
Facebook profile
Linkedin profile

11. Marco Salinas
Hello there, I’m Marco Salinas and I grew up in beautiful Mexico with
my dearest brother Daniel. Other than studying until late hours at
University, you can find me running around, biking and, most recently,
celebrating my birthday (May 17th).
This is my very first semester at CMUA and let me say I’m honored to
be part of this course and you are welcome to find more than a
college on me.
I’m currently enrolled to the MSIT program -two year track, and so far
the University has exceeded my expectations. I’m sure it will complete
my academic education and will provide the necessary tools to be
applied to improve my country’s public policies through the use of
information technologies.
Back in Mexico I worked as technological advisor for the
Undersecretary of Competiveness at the Ministry of Economy. My job
was to improve the Federal regulatory framework, particularly
concerned on businesses’ life cycle. And even though I am done with
that, I still have a couple of projects in mind I would like to flush out
the pipeline.
Some hobbies I stop doing since I arrived to CMU-A (need to get back into them) are: paella cooking, rock
climbing, guitar playing, and soccer -sport that I played for years as undergrad student. So feel free to leave a
message just to say hi or in case you are interested on doing such things...
Let me share this links with you:
- ITESM (My Alma Mater) - My Favourite place in Mexico
- Ministry of Economy Mexico - How to cook a perfect paella
- My Resume - My Flickr account
- Digital Map of Mexico

12. Michael Kahuko
Hi,
My name is Michael Kahuko from Kenya.I am taking MSPPM two year track.I have a Bachelor of
science in Comupter science degree.I tutored various computer courses after graduating and
worked as a freelance web/software developer.I loved geography back in my high school days
and have always wanted to further my knowledge in the computer field with a course related
to geography and this I believe is my opprtunity.
I am a soft spoken person,but quite easy going.I love travelling and my dream destination is
Israel and Egypt.If I won a lottery I would set up a trust fund to help the needy people in my
country and use the rest of the money to travel round the world.
I believe this course will be really enjoyable.

13. Muhamad Arif Hadiwinata
G'day Mates
I'm a MSPPM student, and this is my last term..Hurrraahhh!!!!!
I come from Indonesia, and Jakarta is my hometown. My academic background was Sociology,
and I have 4 years experience working with National Government agency (Ministry of National
Education) and AusAID as an independent consultant in Educational Policy Reform in Indonesia.
Personally, I have no specific academic background in GIS. However, one of my working
experience was dealing with school mapping in Indonesia. I expect to gain a lot of skill and
knowledge after finishing this course, so when I go back to Indonesia, I can apply my GIS skill.
Playing guitar is my hobby, and I like 90s music, especially Brit Bands: OASIS, Blur, Radiohead.
and off course MUSE. I live in Adelaide with my wife and my son. I also like football (soccer) and
Liverpool FC is my favorite club. My biggest dream is that I have a time travel machine that
could take me back to May 2005 in Istanbul, when Liverpool won UEFA European Champions
League against AC Milan from Italy.
If one of you wants to go to Indonesia, I am more than happy to welcome you guys.
Cheers.

14. Quyen Le Hoang
(Xin Chao!!!) - Hi everybody, I am Quyen Hoang, I am come from Hanoi - the capital city of
Vietnam. The first thing I can say about myself that is a big secret garden always insides me ;)
Now just want to tell you a tiny corner of that garden. I got married in 2008 and have a lovely 3
year old daughter. She lives here with me now and we are enjoying happy life everyday. She is
really my treasury that I've ever had.
Graduated from Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (faculty of international law) in 2007, I was
recruited to work in a non-governmental organization headquartered in India named as
Consumer Unity and Trust Society (CUTS). My main work was involved in implementing
research projects on competition law and consumer protection and some other development
projects.
Over a year working in CUTS, I noticed that I achieved development in working experience and
might have more positive orientations in career that could bring greater benefits to the
community. I decided to work for the Vietnam national poverty reduction program as a project
coordinator, I believed that this job not only would I be helping the community, but I would be
helping others to help the community as well.
The decision of acquiring master degree in public policy has been the turning point in my life.
Joining Carnegie Mellon University, I wish to develop my specialized knowledge based on the
focused ideas; issues and trends derived from public sector and community development
issues. GIS course to me is a new concept and methodology. However, I believe that its
feasibility and applicability would be fruitful to my future work related to development
projects.
In addition, I am addicted to travel ;) hence, GIS might take me to any corner in the world with
data, images and information that I am interested in.
I do hope you all guys and me will have amazing and fantastic time with GIS adventure.
Thanks and Good luck!
Cheers,
Quyen Hoang

15. Razaullah Khan
I am student of MSIT here in adelaide campus. I have a degree in computer sciences and has
been working in different organizations on different possitions. My primary experience is in the
system administration and support as well as implemenation of new systems. I can work on
windows, linux and unix and have an experience of almost twelve years with computer
hardware troubleshooting, maintenance and upgrade. I have worked on windows 3 and
windows workstation and MS-DOS when there was only the intel 286 and 386 processers in the
market and these systems have no harddrive and has memory of 32KB's. I remember how hard
it was to install and operating system when on of the large floppy disk gets corrupted and the
whole set would not work.
Before comming to Australia i was a system engineer at a goverment organization known as
"National Database and Registration Authority". Before that i was regional IT coordiantor for
one of the countries largest bank known as "MCB Bank Ltd.". Before that i has worked as a
lecturer at Pakistan airforce accademy and at the university of engineering and technology
Peshawar.
If anyone has a problem with there computer feel free to contact me for a solution.
I used to be a very active in sports but the Govermnment sector job didnt allowed me for much
activities for the last few years. I am a cricket player and had played up till district level. Back in
my home town cricket and wollyball are the only popular games. I didn't like the later one so
moved on with the first. I did have a good record in the game and would usually open the
bowling for my team apart from that i was a middle order batsman but never managed very big
scores but did managed to get the team to a good possition when needed.
My home town "Peshawar" is located just near the afghan border. Its used to be the most
peacefull city of the country but these days now one would like to travel to this area, I wish i
could see my city back with peace and harmony.

16. ROMEO LUKA
Hi there guys. I arrived in Australia over two years ago to study nursing which I successfully
completed in December 2011. I have an undergraduate degree in business information
technology and some working experience in the IT industry. On completing my nursing studies,
I realised that my true passion was computers and I decided to return to my first love. I believe
that life is about sharing and that everyone has a positive contribution to make. When we see
each other, share a smile with me. Cheers

17. Scott Yurcheshen
Hi Everybody,
My name is Scott Yurcheshen and I am in my last semester here at CMU-Australia. I have
wanted to take GIS since a few friends took it last year and spoke highly of the instructor and
content. Further, GIS seems very applicable across a variety of jobs, and I think having a
background in it will be useful. I have no prior experience with the content, but have installed
ArcGIS and am ready to roll!
I am from the U.S., where I grew up in New Hampshire and got my undergrad degree in finance
from Boston College. I spent the two years before CMU with the U.S. Peace Corps, working in
the Kingdom of Tonga. I lived on a small, remote island, without electricity, running water, or a
door to my bathroom. I just went to India for two weeks over semester break (hence my Taj
Mahal picture), and it was a fantastic experience.
Alright, that's all for now. Look forward to learning a lot.

18. Srinivasan Vembuli
Hello Everyone,
I'm Srinivasan Vembuli (most of them call me "Srini") from India.I'm doing 2 years MSIT
program at CMU Australia.
I have worked as a Software Engineer in HP for 1.3 years and as a Senior Application developer
in Bank of New York Mellon for 3.9 years. My work experiences have been varied from design,
coding, to leading and have provided me with an exposure to Financial domain. They have been
instrumental in directing and shaping my career goals.
In my first semester at Carnegie Mellon University, I had an opportunity to work on a project
with South Australian Police(SAPOL). The purpose of the project was to analyze and propose a
knowledge management system. The project not only increased my skills as a consultant
architect but also provided me an opportunity to engage in with SAPOL's senior management.
I'm looking forward to learn more on the GIS technology and its applications.
I love road trips.
Cheers.

19. Stephen Njuguna
Hi Everyone,
I am from Kenya and from a small countryside town called Nyeri, it is an amazing place to be
in,rich with fauna and flora. It is beautiful to wake up every morning and enjoy the scenic view
of the snow cupped mountains and the harmonious melodies of the singing birds.Talk of
adventure sites and you will find them here.If you are looking for a place for your holiday,I am
phone call away.
I am a Biomedical Engineer in my 5 semester track in MSPPM,it is amazing to be in Adelaide. I
have worked with the Government of Kenya and ECRAF both as an engineer and a
researcher.While working in the private I dealt with community health and social issues which
sparked my interest to learn more and coming to CMU was a right choice.Anyone out there
willing to train me more? I would be glad to
Cheerz guys

20. Ali Syedain
Hi Everyone,
My name is Ali Syedain and i prefer to be called Syedain (Sa-ya-dan). This is my last semester
and i couldn't be happier.
I am from Pakistan and i come for a humble family, where my parents are both retired and we
are 3 siblings. I have an MBA in marketing and this would be my second masters. It was my
dream to study abroad and to embrace diversity.Before coming to CMU i was a product
manager liabilies for a local bank and was damn good at it (but that part of my life is over and
now it time to look beyond).
A bit about myself, i am usually introvert in the start and i hate small talk and to mingle, but
people say i am almost bearable. I love cricket and love my country. I like breaking boundaries
and barriers, and love to challenge myself and stereotypes.
I love cricket,music and reading and i love, love,love travel ( i was a steward for an International
Airlines). My dreams keep on changing and i love to make mistakes in life cause my mistakes
and failures are my best teachers.
My latest two passions are Foreign Donation an NGO I started here in Adelaide with CMU
students and it encourage international students to be more prone towards the idea of
donation from blood donation to time and organ donation.
The second is the school called Hunar ( Urdu word meaning talent) where i started this for
theunder privilege people of my country. The idea failed,but after coming to CMU, i know soon
it will be time to pick up where i left out.

21. Thien-Huong
Hi everyone,
I am Thien-Huong, from Vietnam. The first time I heard about the word GIS was like six years
ago, when I was working as a graphic designer, a five page brochure about GIS. This sounds
interesting-I thought to myself - I never knew I would have a chance to get to know more about
it later on ;-).
Though loving working with colors and lines, I felt like I was missing something from this job.
One fine morning, I got a phone call from a stranger, he introduced himself as one of my friend,
(who had this believe that I should do something other than designing), asking me to come for
an interview for a PR position at his firm.
That was an awkwardly funny moment, I didn't even know if he knew my background or not but
I couldn't embarrass my friend so I said I'd come. I'd never been to a press conference, read a
press release or had any idea what is a media briefing, but somehow I managed to get thru the
interview, did well the test and the weeks after, I found myself there in the office, with my
teammates (who became my very good friends later) sometimes by 11pm preparing for an
exclusive interview, VIP visits or some events. The workload (also working time) was double to
what it was before but I was happy with it and really love it.
After few years working, I decided it's time to know something new and the world financial
crisis might be a good time for studying so here I am, back to student.
I am now on my second semester and GIS is my first distance course I've taken, but feel quite
"close" as I can find the answer to all my questions so far with detail and updated instruction
even with this Student Homepage. The only problem with me now is the VirtualBox to install
GIS software on, to what I understand a virtual motherboard for Window7 or something like
that but this minor problem will be solved on next Monday.
Thank you all for reading :-> Huong.

22. Umair Saeed
My name is Umair and I come from historic city of Lahore in Pakistan. I have a bachelors degree
in computer sciences and similar work experience. After getting the hands on experience while
working 4 years for leading telecom operator, I felt an urge to upgrade my skillset and for that I
came to CMU in 1 year MSIT track.
My motivation in this course is to learn the dynamics of GIS and ways it could combine the
underlying principles with other areas of IT and telecom to generate greater business value. I
want to understand that how companies such as Wal-mart have found unique ways to
integrate and automate business process and workflows with geospatial insights, integrated
within their BI system.
I hope to have a good learning experience with all of you.
Regards
Umair

23. Vinay Rajagopal
Vinay Dudda Rajagopal here. Doing my 1 yr MSIT at CMU A. This is my last semester.
Prior to CMU, I was working for Motorola as a Pre Sales Solution Architect for South East Asia
region. Prior to which I was a software developer for Motorola India in the WiFi division.
As part of my job, I have had experience of Enterprise Mobility deployments for major players
in Retail, Supply chain, Education and Manufacturing segments. My expertise is Mobile
computing, RFID and WiFi.
I love traveling, cycling and backpacking. Thanks to my previous job, I have had my fair bit of
luck traveling all across SE Asia and US.
Waiting to pass out and get back to 'work'!
On GIS part, I have had some exposure to ArcMap clients on Mobile computers. But never got
my hands dirty with server side of analysis. Hope to do that in this course.