Ethan Dai is majoring in Artificial Intelligence in his Advanced Computer Science degree at UWA, and recently contributed 100 hours to help Ability WA introduce new tech solutions through his McCusker Centre for Citizenship internship.
Ethan supported work on the disability service provider’s Community Connect project.
“I helped Ability WA transitioning support staff to a new centralised platform for recording interactions with clients and allocating jobs, and I worked on a web app which will allow support staff and clients to view possible activities, collating information in a single central location,” Ethan said.
“I supported the team wherever necessary, drafting guides for the new platform, calling support staff to ensure that they were ready for the rollout and helping out with training sessions regarding the new platform.
“Ability WA is a disability service provider and supports many people with disabilities in the community. Streamlining the administration side of the organisation so that support workers can fulfil their tasks more efficiently means that they can more effectively support their customers.” he said.
Kristy Lopaten, Strategic Project Lead at Ability WA, said that Ethan’s contribution was valuable to the successful delivery of the project.
“Ethan’s tenacity, resilience and amazing attitude meant our frontline staff were supported and ready for the change.
“His contributions right up to go-live of the project meant he handled activities outside the scope of his role, including recommending solutions for future challenges,” Ms Lopaten said.
Interning with Ability WA was an experience with opportunities for learning and gaining practical workplace soft skills for Ethan.
“Joining a new team of people working towards something and gradually fitting in to become a productive and useful member was a very rewarding experience.
“As I gained the trust of team members, I was handed more responsibility and being able to deliver impactful contributions by the end of my time with Ability WA was definitely a highlight,” Ethan said.
“For me, the internship shone a light on how complex behind the scenes operations are at organisations. There are so many stakeholders, risks and other moving parts to manage that something seemingly simple from the outside was the result of much planning inside.
“It was a good opportunity to apply my skills to work outside of university projects and gain work experience, all the while helping an organisation that supports the wider community.”