It was the proposal to install yellow flashing lights on the rear of trains in Central Queensland, which started a young man on the path to his own business.

Harry Sturgess was employed by the Queensland Railway Department in the mid-70s, and got to ride the tailend of trains as a guard. Moves were afoot to reduce the numbers of crew on coal trains particularly, and, seeing the ‘writing on the wall', Harry began to think of an alternative career path.

Harry Sturgess & Des McCoombesHe was very interested in the early forms of personal computer, the Commodore Vic 20, Commodore PET, and the like and, a conversation with one of the lecturers at the new college of advanced education persuaded Harry that there lay his road to security.

At the time he had a young family and realised any career with longevity would need to have a strong foundation, one bolstered by education and academic achievement. Harry started an Associate Diploma in Computing externally, with the Capricornia Institute of Advanced Education (CIAE), the forerunner of CQUniversity Australia. Lots of late nights with ‘the books' saw him advance to a Bachelor of Applied Science in 1989 and, soon after graduation, employment with Telecom Australia, rising to District Support Manager, Queensland Computer and Network Services.

Over the next seven years Harry filled various technical manager, and IT manager positions with the IPEX Group of companies, looking after Central Queensland operations, and later with Queensland Health...
Yongil Kim 

Harry recognised that the time was right, in 1998, to branch out on his own, and he established his company NewTech Networking, which continues to the present, providing networking and other solutions in business computing. Five years of steadily building a reputation in IT in Central Queensland saw the enterprise continue to grow, to the extent Harry knew it was time to share the load.

Having contracted to amongst others, Rockhampton Grammar School, which had been an early adopter of computing and networking in education, Harry had regular dealings with the School's Director of IT, Des McCoombes. In Des he saw someone who, like him, had studied, gained an Honours degree and made his own way in the burgeoning, bewildering field of computing for business. It took Harry four years to persuade Des to leave Rocky Grammar, and join the business as a director...
Kevin Clark

Whilst the journey has never been all smooth sailing, the variety of experiences, challenges and opportunities have compensated. Harry and Des agree, "It's a job, an industry, that's never boring and, because the technology is constantly changing, it's a business that's always challenging."

The two are adamant, the journey they undertook via continual education, with CIAE, Capricornia College of Advanced Education, and CQU is demonstrably the foundation for the success of a business which turns over around $1.5M annually in Central Queensland. They admire young students of today, who are ‘switched on' at an early age, and are enthusiastic about sharing their aspirations and goals, and who recognise education is the way to a successful and a fulfilling career. At present Newtech Networking has three other CQUniversity graduates employed, Yongil Kim, Nathan McDonald and Kevin Clark.  The five underscore that, you CAN be what YOU want to be!... 
Nathan McDonald