Ori Allon

Bachelor of Computing (2002) *

Master of Information Technology (Minor Thesis) (2004)

Ori Allon Google, Inc

Monash University’s Faculty of IT has received some mention as a result of publicity about Ori Allon – the 26-year old doctoral student who was snapped up by Google to work in the US. Born in Israel, Ori moved to Melbourne and completed his undergraduate and postgradute IT degrees at Monash before going to the University of New South Wales to study  for his PhD in Computer Science.  It was there that Ori developed an algorithm, or search engine tool that has generated so much interest.

Named Orion, the algorithm finds web pages with content strongly related to the key word entered in the search. It then returns a section of those pages, and lists other topics related to the key word so users can pick the most relevant.   The UNSW has now sold the rights to Google while retaining the intellectual property rights, and that could mean a steady flow of royalty payments if the process is eventually integrated into Google's search engine.

Ori now works for Google, Inc in California. Marketing and Development contacted Ori in mid-2007 to ask him about his experience at Monash.  Ori completed a Bachelor of Computing* in 2002 and a Master of Information Technology by Minor Thesis  in 2004 and is now an Australian citizen.

“I chose Monash because I was keen to study in Australia, and Monash has an excellent reputation in IT.  Melbourne is a wonderful city that I thoroughly enjoyed discovering.

“While completing my masters degree, I tutored many undergraduate and postgraduate classes, and I now specialise in Computer Science because it is today's most dynamic field where innovations have the capacity to affect millions of people.  In my future IT career, I plan to continue to be as innovative as possible.

“I enjoyed the general environment at Monash.  The lecturers as well as the students made it a pleasant and challenging place to learn.  My advice to anyone considering studying at Monash is to go for it! You will get a great education in one of the best universities in the world.

"After my bachelor’s degree I decided to continue on to PG studies because I felt that there was still a lot for me to learn and I wanted to further my education.  I had no qualms about extending the experience, especially considering how much I enjoyed Monash's campus life as a student.

"Through my postgraduate studies I learned a lot of important technical skills and it was the first
time I was faced with doing self-motivated academic research.  This has been very useful to me already.”

We know that many of the IT staff who have had contact with Ori during his time at Monash would like to congratulate him on this success. The Faculty of IT is delighted to have provided the foundation for his global career.

* The Bachelor of Computing is the previous form of the  Bachelor Information Technology and Systems  .

Links:
Monash Alumni news article (May 2007)

Aussie Search Engine 'wows' Google -Ori Allon (The Age, 29 May 2006)

The Ori Allon-Google Story (Sydney Morning Herald, 10 April 2006)

Google brain-drained (Sydney Morning Herald, 11 April, 2006)