Mr craig costello

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2010 Fulbright Postgraduate Scholarship in Technology and Communications sponsored by Telstra

Media Profile

“If Australia is to make a significant impact in the supply of information and communications services in national and international markets, it is essential that Australia’s expertise in secure encryption technologies is promoted and extended.”

Craig Costello is the winner of the prestigious 2010 Fulbright Postgraduate Scholarship in Technology and Communications sponsored by Telstra. The scholarship, announced by Telstra in May 2004, aims to nurture technology and communication professionals ‘… whose ideas and leadership will shape the future of our world.’

Craig is a graduate from the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) with a Bachelor of Applied Science in mathematics with first class honours in the Dean’s Scholars program. Currently, he is undertaking a PhD in mathematics at QUT through an Australian Postgraduate Award, as well as Vice-Chancellor’s, Information Technology and Queensland Smart State top up awards.

Based at the University of California (Irvine), he will undertake twelve months’ research into new techniques for security on computer and telecommunications devices. “I will work with world-leaders in an applied field of mathematics known as pairing-based cryptography, which promises to make it possible to improve digital security, particularly on devices with limited computational power such as mobile phones, palm pilots, laptops, remote sensors, and smartcards,” Craig said.

His work will focus on the area termed ‘pairings on elliptic curves’. “Pairings are unique, complex mathematical functions that have very special properties. These pairings have been known to mathematicians for a long time, but their power and potential in the area of cryptography has only been discovered recently.”

Craig plans to use the knowledge gained in the U.S. to develop technology that will benefit all users of electronic communications who require security for their information, including the financial sector, commerce, national security agencies and domestic users as well.

“Australia’s research community will greatly benefit from our results being published at high profile conferences and from the continued collaboration with expert cryptographers in the USA. Many of my colleagues at QUT are researching in this area and my work abroad is likely to influence their research.”

Apart from his academic life, Craig is interested in basketball, tennis, surfing, running, table tennis, golf and chess. He is also currently involved in a voluntary personal project on the Gold Coast that aims to provide gifted mathematics students with the same opportunities he has had, particularly those who aren’t exposed to the higher order extra-curricular mathematics that is only offered at a small fraction of high schools.