• CSU IT educator receives Cisco global industry award
• Recognition for providing exceptional leadership, mentorship, and inspiring students to pursue careers in STEM fields
• CSU a leader in Cisco course student enrolment in Australia

A Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic has won a major award from a leading global information technology (IT) company.

Lecturer and researcher in the CSU School of Computing and Mathematics in Wagga Wagga Dr Lihong Zheng received the Academia Award in the Women in IT Awards program at the 2019 Cisco Live conference in Melbourne on Thursday 7 March.

Cisco Systems Inc. is a major US corporation based in Silicon Valley, California, that develops and sells a range of IT products and services globally, and Cisco specialist courses are taught as an integral part of the CSU Bachelor of Information Technology.

The Cisco Academia Award is dedicated to a Cisco Networking Academy instructor who has accelerated and advanced her career beyond typical performance expectations while providing exceptional leadership and mentorship, inspiring students to pursue careers in STEM fields, and who has contributed to the broader STEM community.

The Academia Award citation states:

‘Lihong Zheng is known for her significant contribution to the Information Communication and Technology (ICT), tirelessly promoting Cisco Networking Academy courses amongst students to gain the number one spot of the most students enrolled in Networking Academy Courses across Australia.’

As Cisco Academic Lead at CSU, Dr Zheng has demonstrated her contributions through the development of new Internet of Things (IoT) courses, community service and engagement, and initiated and promoted the Internet of Everything (IoE) to the subject ‘Internet Technologies’.

In addition, CSU had the leading Cisco course student enrolment in Australia and received the Cisco award of ‘Strongest Student Numbers in Australia between February-April 2017’.

Dr Zheng said, “As an educator, quality of teaching is always important to me, and this award would not have been possible without the support from my School and my team members.

“It is essential that our students study and understand the significant relevant technological applications created by Cisco that are commonly used globally in IT today, so they are job-ready, highly employable, with a range of IT career path options.

“I have promoted new online subjects and motivated students’ learning, and have sought every opportunity to develop STEM skills of students in the University and the local community.

“I also encouraged the development of other new courses, and provided valuable recommendations back to the Cisco team about four new courses (Pilot: Cisco CCNA Wireless Certification course, Big Data and Analytics Instructor course, Intro to Cybersecurity course, and IoT: Hackathon Playbook course).”

Another aspect of Dr Zheng’s work is that she continually promotes, conducts and mentors various national and international events or competitions, such as the IT work experience program, Cisco Netrider, Cisco Global Problem Solver, RoboCup, CSU MyDay, AWI Tech eChallenge, AgriTech, and IoT Spartans Challenge. Significantly, in the 2017 IoT Spartans Challenge Dr Zheng led a group of CSU students from multiple campuses (Wagga Wagga, Melbourne, and Port Macquarie) for the CSU team to win second place among 250 universities globally.