Adelaide University Internship - Joe Xuanqiao Zhang
Welcome Joe!
Joe Xuanqiao Zhang joined our SAcommunity Data Analytics Team for his University of Adelaide SET (Sciences, Engineering and Technology) Internship for his Masters of Computer Science 2024 Semester 1: 22 March 2024 - 21 June 2024.
He completed a 140 hour internship onsite with SAcommunity at the Connecting Up Office, Infoxchange for 2 days (15 hours) a week for ~10 weeks around his classes.
Joe recently returned to the SAcommunity Team on 1 April 2025, this time as a volunteer joining the SAcommunity Website Rebuild Team for ~ 4 hours a week, whilst job seeking. Welcome back Joe!
Joe recently returned to the SAcommunity Team on 1 April 2025, this time as a volunteer joining the SAcommunity Website Rebuild Team for ~ 4 hours a week, whilst job seeking. Welcome back Joe!
Total Hours 149 This Year 8 Joined 22 March 2024 Last Check-in 8 April 2025
Personal Biography
Joe Xuanqiao Zhang is a Master of Computer Science graduate from the University of Adelaide. He has a Bachelor's degree in Automation Engineering from the China University of Petroleum, and worked as a Java software development engineer at the Xi'an Zhiwenchen Software Co. Ltd. There he utilised Java programming language, Java collection frameworks, databases including MySQL, Redis, MongoDB, Linux operating systems, Java Libraries such as ECharts, POI and API platform Postman, prior to moving to Australia in 2023, to pursue his interests in software engineering and data analytics.
His aim as an Intern Information Officer, adn now as a volunteer, is to gain hands-on experience in programming and data analysis, applying the knowledge he has learnt at university. Along with the ability to practice and showcase the professional skills he acquired from his previous software development engineer role. He also plans to improve his communication skills, by working across a range of staff, peers and clients, and practice these within his new workplace at Connecting Up.
Ultimately, Joe Xuanqiao Zhang plans to continue pursuing a career in data analytics, and machine learning. To both discover more about the areas he loves, and to allow him to follow their development in the context of the AI wave. With their wide range of applications, both fields open up numerous career opportunities in the near future.
Councils Project for Community Services
Joe has selected Port Pirie Regional Council for his Power BI council reports, a database of approximately 240 community services operating in the area for the financial years 2020-2021, 2021-2022, and 2022-2023. His reports based on previous data provided by Stathis Avramis, and his completed reports can be found here.
The process of creating community service information data presentations involves several steps. Data trends are summarized by utilizing information from Google Analytics and SAcommunity. Subsequently, Power BI and Canva reports are generated, which may reveal data anomalies and the need for corrections. The database is then updated with improved information, and the reports are recreated. The final data reports are published on the website and introduced by Joe to council stakeholders for their information and feedback.
Joe Zhang and Intern Sylvia Cao with their mentor Alison Ramsay, Chief Technology Officer, Infoxchange
Mentor Meeting 14th May 2024
Connecting Up Volunteers and Interns are provided with the opportunity to select staff members from across the wider Infoxchange organisation for an informational mentor meeting. Here they have the opportunity to ask more about staff members' job roles and employment journey, and learn about their careers and professional development, to gain insights and guidance that can be applied to their own success.
Volunteers and interns both prepare five questions for their mentors and then are encouraged to record 5 aspects they felt were helpful to share in their portfolio for both themselves and other volunteers, and Joe believes that this meeting had many benefits for him.
Alison shared her background and experiences. Her time at Dundee University was particularly notable, as the computer science curriculum was shifting from traditional to modern approaches. She emphasised that her deep technical knowledge and broad skill set provided a solid foundation for a career in software development.
Alison also gave valuable career advice. She mentioned that it is important to find your interests and be open to opportunities in your career, even if they are not directly offered to you. She also advised Joe to come up with solutions when he identified a problem, rather than just reporting it, so that he can impress management. It also keeps people at a higher level of looking at the problem.
In terms of management and teamwork, Alison emphasised the value of management courses. She pointed out that even if they can't apply the knowledge directly at the beginning, we can benefit indirectly by understanding how management teams operate. She also mentioned the importance of being proactive in providing information to help managers better understand the work of their teams, which in turn improves overall efficiency.
Respect and relationships are equally important in the work environment, and Alison emphasises that respect is essential, both from managers to employees and from employees to managers. Respect increases motivation and job satisfaction, which in turn create a positive work environment.
The session provided Joe with insights into the key elements in career development, including finding an interest, proactive problem solving, understanding management operations, and respecting others. These suggestions will serve as important guidance for his future career.
Telephone Techniques: Intern Harsh Bhatt with Intern Joe Xuanqiao Zhang
Telephone Techniques
All interns and volunteers receive telephony training, as skilled telephony and telephone etiquette are important to all SAcommunity team members. Telephone technology helps data analysis team members learn more about the catalog and data collection methods, data cleansing and update their individual dataset information, and ultimately analyze and present their data reports to council stakeholders.
Image: IX Lunch & Learn: World Autism Month with Key Speaker: Jim Mullan, CEO at Amaze
Work experience - Internal & External Events, Connections & Networks
Interns are encouraged to attend monthly SAcommunity Team meetings, Connecting Up staff meetings, as well as quarterly all-staff Infoxchange Town Hall meetings to understand more about the organisation as a whole.
Organisation-wide news, events and projects are communicated through the staff channels. Informal 'Lunch and Learn' educational sessions, and network meetings create connections with staff. While peer-to-peer training or capacity-building and telephone technique training allow for networking. Interns are also given opportunities to attend stakeholder and partner events as they arise.
Relevant meetings and training sessions Joe has attended include:
Infoxchange (IX) Meeting - People & Culture - Lunch & Learn Sessions
Joe attended an informative presentation on Amaze by Amaze CEO Jim Mullan. His presentation focused on the Amaze initiative, World Autism Month, and the importance of autism inclusion in the workplace. Amaze is known for its efforts to promote autism awareness, advocate for policy changes that benefit individuals with autism and their families, and provide reliable information and resources to stakeholders, including families, professionals, governments, and the broader community.
All staff meeting 11 June 2024
Joe and Stathis, Data Analystics Team Lead, discuss about the council report
Infoxchange (IX) All Staff Town Hall Meeting
11 June 2024: Updates from the Infoxchange CEO, Operations, Finance, People & Culture, Lightning Talks from IX Teams, and IXcel Awards
Infoxchange (IX) Stakeholder Events
Data Catalyst Network (DCN): Brings together people from across sectors, to break cycles of disadvantage through the innovative use of data. As an intern at Infoxchange, I had the opportunity to attend many valuable Data Catalyst Network webinars that brought together people from across sectors to break cycles of disadvantage through the innovative use of data.
Digital Training & Development
Volunteers and interns have access to the Connecting Up Digital Learning Platform providing live webinars and recorded webinars, workshops and webinars presented by subject-matter experts to understand more about a range of technology topics for the not-for-profit sector.
Relevant training sessions were selected, attended, summarised and assessed by Joe to look at how these sessions can enhance his internship experience as follows:
Webinar 1: A practical introduction to Power BI
In this webinar, Joe gained invaluable knowledge about how to improve the efficiency of data management and demonstrate the effectiveness of his work at a nonprofit organisation through Microsoft Power BI. Through the session, he gained a basic understanding of Power BI, including its capabilities and how to apply it in his organisation.
In addition, Joe learned how to access different data sources and integrate them with PowerBI to enhance data analysis. He learned how to link data to PowerBI, how to generate data visualizations, and how to develop dashboards that are effective in monitoring and reporting on service delivery.
During the webinar, Markus Harvey demonstrated through real-life examples how technology can help non-profit organisations improve efficiency and clearly communicate their social impact. Joe plans to apply this new knowledge to his daily work to help his organisation stand out in a competitive funding environment.
Image: Joe and Anju Odedara, Violet Zewei You, Jamie Jiemin Zhang, Clover Xinyue Luo, Yong Kheng Beh, Yi Han, Jay Shijie Zhang, Kristen Ngoc Khanh Mai Nguyen, Harsh Bhatt, Tanvi Srivastava, Sylvia Shiwen Cao, Olivia Thi Kim Oanh Nguyen (left to right)
My Internship experience
During my internship with the SAcommunity Data Analytics team from 23 January to 26 April 2024, I gained valuable skills and insights.
Working on Port Pirie Regional Council projects using Power BI and Canva and producing insightful reports for the council allowed me to apply theoretical knowledge to real-world scenarios and contribute to community service data analytics.
Participating in stakeholder events such as the Data Catalyst Network webinars exposed me to emerging trends such as augmented intelligence and deepened my understanding of the data analytics industry.
Training courses organized by Connecting Up further enhanced my data management and analytics expertise, covering tools such as Power BI, Excel, Google Analytics, and IT management.
The mentorship from Alison Ramsay, CTO of Infoxchange, provided valuable guidance. It gave me a clear vision of what to do next personally and what changes are going to happen in this industry.
Overall, this internship has allowed me to accumulate valuable experience in data analysis. Although I am still an entry-level information officer, I have a clearer understanding of my future career and industry, and I am full of motivation.
