Ruby Payne-Scott was a pioneer radio physicist.  I was asked to go in and narrate her story for the ABC’s Fierce Girls series.  Listen to it here!

Synopsis by ABC:  In the 1940s when Ruby Payne Scott went to university she was the ONLY girl in her class. Back then, you could count the number of female physicists in the entire country on one hand. Ruby was super smart but she struggled to get a job because blokes thought women belonged at home. Not Ruby — she once used a bent coat hanger, some plugs and a few bits and bobs to tune in to the noises of the galaxy — something nobody had ever done before. It’s no wonder she went on to become one of Australia’s most outstanding physicists.

In March this year, I was invited to the Australian Office in Taipei, Taiwan, to give a speech for International Women’s Day.

During my 10-hour transit in Taipei, I gave the speech, then I visited Taipei First Girls' High School - the most elite girls high school in Taiwan, with only the top 1% of exam scorers gaining entry.

There, I gave another speech and was given a doll wearing the First Girls’ High School uniform.  Here I am with the doll and the school principal in the Taipei Times.

The school’s First Robotics team invited me to check out their robotics lab.  I couldn’t resist and I was very impressed by their work.  They built these robots in 6 weeks!

Here I am with the robot builders!

Then I explored Taipei - I went to the National Palace Museum, ate at a Night Market, ate at another Night Market, and then hopped on a flight to the next destination!

I think that was the most productive 10-hour transit I’ve ever had!

The Project called me a “Woman to Watch” and shot this short video.  It contains footage of a child going to school remotely using Teleport, photographs from when I was a kid, and shots of me working with my team in the office.  The video expires on 25 July 2018.

As part of my Advance Queensland Hot Desq tenure, I was granted the unique opportunity to visit a remote Aboriginal community, Aurukun, to encourage kids into STEM and enterprise.  Aurukun is in Far North Queensland, a 2 hour flight north of Cairns.  Here's a famous Aurukun dog, which the men make at the Men's Arts Centre.

I travelled with Anna Guenther, Chief Bubble Blower of PledgeMe from the Hot Desq program, and others from the community.

We were there for two days and one night.  On the first day, we spoke with a women’s group about starting their own business, and visited the Women’s Craft Centre.

We then played with drones and gave the kids the chance to experience VR at the Regional Community Centre.

On the second day, we went to the local school and simultaneously held a VR experience, Ozobot activity drone sessions, videography skills, and most excitingly, the kids used the National Broadband Network connection to Teleport into the Aubot R&D office in Melbourne.

The kids were super respectful and well-behaved and tried their best to navigate Teleport through the sea of robots.  It was fantastic!

Thank you Advance Queensland for the amazing opportunity!

I’m fortunate to be invited all around the world to deliver speeches. In February, I was invited to the MBN Y Forum in Seoul, South Korea for a keynote speech and panel. Hosted by Maeil Broadcasting Network (MBN) under Maekyung Media Group, one of South Korea's leading economic media groups, MBN Y Forum has taken place since 2011. The event is a platform to discuss the major issues, ideas, and trends of politics, economy, technology, leading industries, and media.

Boy do the Koreans know how to put on a show and make you feel really important - by putting huge photographs of you up everywhere. Here I am outside the stadium.

Here I am inside the stadium - see the giant posters hanging from the ceiling - in the upper part of the photo.

And here we are outside for people to take photographs next to us. The other speakers in my panel were Peter Stone, founder of RoboCup and a professor at The University of Texas at Austin, and Pindar Van Arman, winner of the 2018 Robot Arm Prize, who creates art using AI and robotics.

Also, a boy band were invited to speak as well, so there was a gaggle of teenage girls (numbering in the many hundreds!) who appeared just for them. :)