Menzies Scholarship | Simon Malian
Posted by John Smith on July 19th, 2014
Simon Malian has been awarded a Sir Robert Gordon Menzies Scholarship by The Harvard Club of Australia and the Australian National University. The award enables Simon to undertake the Master of Science in Computational Science and Engineering during the 2014/15 academic year. Simon’s work sits at the intersection between economics and computation.
Simon was born and educated in Sydney, Australia. He began his career at IBM Business Consulting Services, where he improved a predictive stock analytics system for a major department store, and later helped develop the prototype of an online banking platform for Australia’s largest bank. Simon went on to work for Westpac Banking Corporation, where he was employed across the company’s institutional banking and life insurance departments. He was later appointed as an Advisor to the Chief Information Officer and worked on the bank’s Economic Profitability Management initiative, which developed algorithms measuring the success of the bank’s financial products. Simon then worked for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, where he created tools and systems to support financial planning, life insurance, and stock broking needs for a range of clients. He was appointed as a Project Manager within a high-profile program established to respond to allegations of fraud, and developed a risk analytics solution that enabled internal auditors to identify high-risk client advisers.
Simon then pursued an opportunity to work on the Australian Government’s National Broadband Network Initiative. The initiative sought to reform Australia’s telecommunications industry by providing fast, affordable internet access to the country’s residents, regardless of their location. During this post, Simon Malian contributed to the development of financial information systems that handled over $12 billion in industry payments, helped design systems that overcame installation challenges, mentored teams of staff, and led the development of business cases.
Simon Malian is also passionately committed to facilitating social entrepreneurship. In 2004, he established a charitable foundation that provides technological and management consulting services for the not-for-profit sector. Ten years after the foundation’s conception, Simon’s online service has helped over 2,500 organisations in 50 countries, with tasks such as volunteer development, online presence and fundraising. Eager to help as many organisations as possible, Simon began to explore methods for improving the foundation, and came to realise that its organisational model was a constraining factor. He decided to start a new foundation, called Golden Hint, which employs a distinctive client-to-client support model. The name is inspired by the belief that providing expert advice (hints) can prove pivotal (golden) in transforming ideas into results.
