I am passionate about innovation, creativity & technology and the implementation of them for the betterment of humankind. I believe in lifelong learning. As an electrical engineer (UNSW), I have completed a Master of Philosophy in Engineering Education and a Doctorate in Underwater Swarm Sensor Networks (University of Newcastle). My career has led me on a parallel journey as a technical/business engineer and as a female engineer advocating for gender equity predominately in the STEM (Science Technology Engineering & Maths) areas. I am co-founder of a consultancy, Gender Matters that advises organisations on gender equity and we have a unique approach to mitigating unconscious and conscious bias in decision making.In 2000, I founded an underwater technology company, BlueZone Group with my husband in the Hunter Region of NSW which has now grown to 3 offices around Australia. I am the inaugural Chair of Eighteen04 (an inspirational co-working and incubator space for companies scaling in the clean tech and smart city start-up space) and an inaugural board member of Hunter iF project (an open consortium of leading organisations in the Hunter to support the growing startup ecosystem here). I was the founding Chair of Rights House, an Angel investing group, that has recently merged with the Hunter Angels, of which I am a board member and I have invested in >20 start-ups over the last 10 years. I became a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering in 2019. I was elected National Vice President of Engineers Australia in 2008, and was awarded an Honorary Fellow of Engineers Australia in 2017. I have also received the Joe Award for contributions to the digital economy at the NewiAwards in 2016. For over 20 years, I have been active in building my knowledge and experience as a director. I graduated from the AICD Directors Course in 2015 and am an active member of numerous company boards.