Alumni

My time at UWA was important as it gave me an opportunity to realise that Engineering would be my career path and a good base degree to start my career in the resources industry.

I always knew that I loved Science and Mathematics subjects from my childhood and didn’t see Engineering as a career choice, until my father took me to a UWA careers expo when I was in year 12 and then realised it could be an option.

So, I hedged my bets by doing the double degree course of Science and Engineering. I realised during my studies at UWA that I liked the more practical and people oriented nature of Engineering and chose this as my career choice. UWA was also a meeting place for a number of my friends and colleagues, who I still keep in regular touch.

One of my passions is to see that all people achieve their full potential and have the choice in life to do so. I hope to help make diversity and inclusion a widely embraced, normal part of society. One of the ways I am pursuing this is to encourage more girls and women to pursue Science, Engineering and Technology careers.

Obviously to do this they need to first see Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects as a good option and then pursue them in primary, high school and university. And then once they enter industry, have meaningful work and can juggle work and their many other pursuits.

I am part of the UWA based Girls in Engineering program that RioTinto (my employer) sponsors and supports. I am also on the committee and responsible for assisting with the Women in Engineering program, which pairs a UWA female engineering student with industry mentors.

As part of this program, I organise site visits for mentees to Rio Tinto Iron Ore’s Operation Centre and Westrac, and provide opportunities to hear from female engineering guest speakers and for networking.

I have mentored UWA final year engineering students since 2012 as part of the Career Mentor Link program. This has been an excellent opportunity for me to share my experiences, give something back to the university and community and also hear about the passion and challenges of the younger generation.

I graduated from UWA in 1997 with a double degree in Science and Engineering and commenced my career with Kalgoorlie Consolidated Gold Mines in Kalgoorlie as a Mechanical Engineer. I then moved to Alcoa’s Wagerup and Kwinana refineries where I had a number of Engineering and Superintendent roles, before joining Rio Tinto in 2011 as Principal Advisor Asset Management.

I have worked all my career in WA’s resources industry in numerous Engineering, Maintenance and project roles and have found it very rewarding and allowed me to stay in WA.