STEM career role models for young women

As a part of e-KLESF event, Australia Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) webinar was conducted via Zoom and KLESF Facebook Live on 18 December 2020. The exclusive webinar, with the title of “STEM Career Role Models for Young Women”, aimed to inspire and encourage more women to pursue careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) fields.

The webinar was facilitated by Science and Technology Education Leveraging Relevance (STELR) National Education Program Coordinator Camille Thomson

The invited speakers were three influential women who were flourished in STEM-related fields—Renewable Energy Engineer Sheena Ong, Consultant and Project Manager Energetic, Perth, Australia; Marine Ecologist and Entrepreneur Dr Pia Winberg, CEO of Venus Shell Systems Pty. Ltd., New South Wales, Australia; Wind Energy Engineer Rosemary Barnes, Technology Development Manager and Project Manager, Denmark.

Sheena was inspired by her father to choose engineering as a career

The webinar was first started by Sheena’s sharing on her journey in becoming an engineer. She shared her story about how she struggled from choosing sciences or arts, and how her father was involved in her decision to become an engineer. “I decided to have a career in renewable energy because climate change is one of the biggest challenges of our times. I thought an engineer with applied science and maths skills would be able to make meaningful contributions,” she said.  

She shared her unique personal experience in Engineer Without Borders (EWB), a not-for-profit organisation that aims to harness the potential of engineering to create an equitable reality for the planet and its people. Sheena was the volunteer with EWB. She was inspired a lot while participating in the EWB, particularly in the aspect of the humanitarian engineer. 

After she graduated from the University of Western Australia, she crowd-funded and filmed a documentary exploring the idea of humanitarian engineering and disadvantaged communities. She spent about nine months crossing Australia to interview engineering leaders, engineers and beneficiaries of humanitarian engineering. 

Sheena also talked about how she pursues her career in the renewable energy area and shared her working experience with the participants.

Dr Pia explaining that seaweed production offers an opportunity for sustainability and nutritional outcomes that are aligned with the SDG

Dr Pia Winberg, on other hand, gave an overview of her science career journey. She shared her knowledge of studying the ecology of the sea. Dr Pia is a non-conventional scientist who has pursued a career spanning science, industry and community. Her foundations in marine systems ecology and a local perspective have shaped her journey from understanding global-scale disruption of molecular cycles to create a new platform of market-ready products from seaweed. 

“Integrating seaweed into industrial processes is one of the solutions for more sustainable development in the developing countries and more countries,” she said. She added that her work touches upon the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14—Life below water, which was also her current motivation.

She also presented a history of the seaweed crop industry, highlighting the significant contribution of a female scientist Kathleen Drew-Baker on the industry. Drew-Baker’s research made a lasting contribution to the development of commercial production of nori, which was widely known for its use in sushi. 

She also noted that seaweed was the biggest aquaculture crop by biomass. “Seaweed has a profound impact on food production and addresses nutritional deficiencies. It also provides an opportunity for the applications of biotech and biomaterial,” she said. 

Rosemary went back to university and got a PhD in mechanical engineering to improve her skills for the wind energy industry

Rosemary shared her personal story and work experience as a senior mechanical engineer in the area of wind energy. She moved to one of the world’s most renewable energy-advanced countries, Denmark in 2016. Working as a project manager at LM Wind Power, she was responsible for the ice mitigation subsystem to heat the blades and keep them ice-free.

Rosemary started independent consultation for renewable energy and sustainability technologies this year, and created a YouTube channel called “Engineering with Rosie”. She shared her videos about clean energy technologies, as well as series using STELR wind energy kit in her channel.

The webinar offers valuable insights to the participants