Co-op stars William On & Rob Hango-Zada shine in the 2021 Alumni Awards

The UNSW Alumni Awards celebrate the achievements of University alumni with established careers and those at the beginning of their career journey. This year a record 145 alumni from an array of backgrounds and disciplines were nominated for the Awards, from whom eight distinguished alumni received awards. Among them the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, a debut novelist, and our very own BIT Co-op Alumni Rob Hango-Zada & William On, co-founders and Joint CEOs of logistics platform Shippit.  The pair, who met in their first year of Co-op at UNSW, were recognised with the Innovation & Entrepreneurship award for their online retail shipping platform. Information Systems Academic Coordinator Dr. Christine van Toorn remembers “From the moment they met in the CLB, at UNSW Rob and Will just "clicked"! They have a unique partnership and very complementary skill sets. Their curiosity, creativity and passion always shined - and may have even driven me a little crazy at times (lol).... so very proud of them!” 

That “click” has already led to some impressive milestones for the pair - Shippit powers delivery for leading retailers around Australia, currently handles over 50 million shipments annually and has recently expanded into south-east Asia. In the acceptance video Rob also calls out the important influence of both their parents, particularly as children of migrant families and first generation Australians “…the privileged position that we were in, being able to go to university as the first generation in our families, to be able to do that…it’s quite humbling for us”.

Co-op congratulates all 2021 Alumni Award winners, in particular Will and Rob on their achievements and success so far, and are proud to have been part of their journey!  Hear more about their experience in Co-op Program below!

^{Co-op BIT03 graduating class, featuring William On, Rob Hango-Zada, their Academic Coordinator Dr. Christine vanToorn, and we’re confident many other stars!}