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Following the paths of the past – Dr Oleksandra Molloy inspires the youth of the future

By Caitlin Healy

Dr Oleksandra Molloy

Dr Oleksandra Molloy has more than 10 years’ experience in teaching, research, and consultancy in the areas of aviation, road safety, human factors, education/training, and rail. Her current focus is the training of novice pilots and drivers using flight simulators and Mobileye tracking systems to build their non-technical and risk management skills, ensuring that these young operators can succeed in the future.

Oleksandra has contributed to a range of government and industry research projects including Australian Research Council (ARC), Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW), Sydney Trains, Roads and Maritime Services (RMS), Australian Customs and Border Protection Services (ACBPS). She recently joined UNSW ADFA as a lecturer in Aviation at School of Engineering and Information Technology.

On a trip back home in Ukraine, Oleksandra travelled back to her high school, the Gymnasium of New Teaching Technologies in Kropyvnytskyi (Ukraine) to help inspire the next generation of girls to think about a career in STEM. Oleksandra has fond memories of her time there and wanted to pass on those to the current students.

“I remember I have always been a girl with big dreams, and beliefs that one can achieve anything s/he wants” and “one should set high goals and find ways to achieve them”.

She wanted to pass the message to the members of staff and the Headmaster Lubov Krasnova “Thanks to the inspiring teachers at the school, I have gained many personal and professional traits for the future, including the ability to set high goals in life and achieve them.”

Year 7 students of GNTT (left to right): Anna Yanusheva, Sophia Radchenko, Svetlana Nosal, Oleksandra Molloy, Anna Panchenko, Kristina Panchenko
Oleksandra presenting Anna Panchenko with the prize for the best essay

Oleksandra set two challenges for the girls. The first was for the girls from Yr 7 to participate in a discussion panel about the exciting aspects in STEM professions and the increasing demand for recruiting female professionals for jobs in these areas.

The girls then turned their attention to what they saw in their future with an essay competition on “My dream profession in STEM” this got them thinking about why they might want to pursue a career in STEM and the options available to them. Anna Panchenko won the best essay prize.

In the second challenge, the Yr 11 girls were asked to design and develop new robots based on their past knowledge of robotics. In the first stage, each team designed a new robot to solve an engineering problem of their own choice and explain the purpose of the robot. In stage two, the students had to build a robot-car for industry.

“This was a really fun activity for all the students as they had to engineer a real robot with the mission.”

The winning team (pictured) was from Yr 11 and have already competed in the Ferrexpo Robot Fest and Best Robo Fest robotics competitions before. These girls are well on their way to becoming leaders in the field of robotics with their second-place medal in the First Lego League.

Year 11 students of GNTT (left to right): Natalia Frolova, Kate Polonska, Maria Gurtova, Maria Belik, Kate Hodyukova, Eva Verbovska, Kate Starenka

When the borders reopen, Oleksandra plans to return and continue her work with the Gymnasium of New Teaching Technologies, Ukraine to inspire and motivate young girls about expanding and developing their creative skills, teamwork and leadership, as well as future prospects in STEM.

Follow Oleksandra on Twitter

Life after the Champions Program

By Charlotte Beloe

Being a part of the UNSW Maths and Science Champions Program this year has been an amazingly enriching experience. Having not yet had the opportunity to try out my new skills I was curious about what life after the Champions Program is like. So this week I caught up with UNSW Maths and Science Champions alumnus Rosie Steinberg to find out.

Xenia sp. soft corals (white). Source: Rosie Steinberg

Rosie is currently doing her PhD on soft corals. “I work on the ecology of, threats to, and restoration potential of soft corals”, says Rosie. This involves two different projects: observing the effects of 2019 bleaching events on soft corals and research to inform the restoration of cauliflower corals in Sydney Harbour. If you’ve never seen a soft coral they’re definitely worth a quick Google or Youtube search! Rosie showed me her awesome video background of Xenia sp. pompom corals which definitely made me want to step up my video-conferencing game.

Reflecting on the past year, Rosie has found she has really honed her skills for science communication. “I think knowing some of the resources for science communication that are available through the uni and getting introduced to social and regular media teams was really useful,” Rosie says. “The social media workshop was great, I got back into Twitter after 8 years! I boosted my public image and managed to build a decent SciComm following.”

It doesn’t stop at Twitter – Rosie says she is now more likely to actively engage with the public on social media and in blogs about her own research. “The program got me to think about my work in a broader context. I learned how to write for a wider audience without ‘dumbing my research down’.” It’s a very simple skill that is surprisingly difficult and one that Rosie still finds challenging. She’s quick to highlight its importance, “It’s important to make sure that my research is accessible. My focus is on conservation and at the end of the day I’m not the one out there doing the work in restoration. So if I can’t make my research accessible it’s pretty useless.”

Rosie in the field collecting D. australis corals for her research. Source: John Turnbull http://marineexplorer.org/

Rosie also says that learning about presentation skills through workshops really boosted her confidence. “My presentation skills are definitely better, as is my general public speaking,” Rosie says. “I’m more comfortable accepting outreach and science communication offers, since I know I now have the skill set.”

It isn’t just skill development that Rosie has found useful; a highlight of the program was the relationships she built with other women. “I really liked the time spent with women from research areas I wouldn’t have met otherwise. Our paths would never have crossed.” Rosie explains, “I got to learn so much, especially what it means to be a woman in STEM.”

When asked what message she has for young women interested in STEM she commented, “Women are just as good as men in any area of STEM and this has been shown over and over.” She mused over her time working in mammalian research where she would have to lift whole animals, even a whole frozen cougar (with a bit of help of course)! “Try everything you are interested in and don’t let anyone shame you out of what you are interested in. Experiment, try things out, you’ll learn a lot about yourself.” Rosie continued. And that’s exactly what she has done over the years.

On a final note Rosie reflected, “Things are just getting better for women in STEM and we’re fighting to make it better. The women before us made it leaps and bounds better for us and we’ll do the same for the next generation.”

Follow Rosie on Twitter.