1. STEM
I have beeninvolvedinSTEMrelatedactivitieslongbefore the STEMinitiative became well known.
My earlyemploymentcareerbeganasa Technicianandthena Technical OfficeratTelstrawhere I
was withthe companyfor15 years. The highlightof mytime withTelstrawasbeingselectedaspart
of a teamto construct their24 x 4 monitor array at theirGlobal OperationsCentre intheirResearch
Laboratory formonitoringTelstra’snation-widenetworks;the largestof itstype inthe southern
hemisphere. Duringmytime withTelstra,IcompletedanAssociate Diplomaof Electronics
EngineeringatTAFEnightschool.
Aftertakinga Redundancy Package fromTelstra,IsuccessfullycompletedaBachelorof Technology
(ComputerStudies) fromMonashUniversity.While atuniversity, mymajorprojectinvolveddirectly
measuringthe speedof soundusingelectroniccircuitsof myowndesignandconstruction interfaced
to a laptopcomputerto performthe necessarycalculationsandanalysisof the speed
measurements.
Upon completingmyBachelorof Technology, IbeganteachingElectronicsandComputerSystems
EngineeringatChisholmTAFEwhere Iwasthere foreightyears.Duringmytime withChisholmI
taught EngineeringMathematics, Electronics,CircuitTheory, CAD, andcomputerprogramming
languagessuchas C and AssemblyLanguage fortwodifferentmicroprocessorfamilies. The practical
aspectof myteachinginvolveddesigning andconstructingvarious circuitsincludingiPodamplifiers
and microcontrollerbasedsystems tocontrol time,motorandtemperature sensors.Ialso
constructedsimple integratedcircuitsfromdiscrete componentssuchastransistors,resistorsand
capacitors. As Chisholmhas Electrical/Electronics teachingprogramsinChina,Iwasutilisedtocreate
teachingresourcesfortheirChinaPrograms. TeachingElectro-technologytoYear11 & 12 VET in
Schools studentsfromlocal secondaryschoolswasalsopartof my teachingduties.
Aftertakinga RedundancyPackage fromChisholmTAFEI undertookand completedmyDiplomaof
Secondary Educationat RMIT University;myteachingsubjectsbeingMathematicsandPhysics.
ImmediatelyaftercompletingmyDiplomaof Education,IupgradedmyCertificate IV inTrainingand
AssessmentwhichI originallycompletedwhilstatChisholm. Ihave since taughtMathematicsand
Science bothat Mount St.JosephGirls’College andatFirbankGrammar.
Throughoutall thistime Ihave indulgedmypassionsforthe Science of AstronomyandCelestial
Navigation. Some of the highlightsof these passionsincludesuccessful observationsof bothTransits
of Venusin2004 and 2012, a total solar eclipse in2002 at CedunaS.A.,anannulareclipse in1999
nearGeraldtonW.A. as well asvariouslunareclipsesincludingone in2000 inKakadu National Park.
For CelestialNavigationIhave written andused myownnavigationsoftware. Ihave alsorecently
publishedanarticle inthe Vinculum Journal of the MathematicsAssociationof Victoriaon
calculatingthe orbital speedandinclinationof the InternationalSpace Stationasa teachingactivity
for VCEMathematics.
In myspare time I alsoenjoydevelopingspreadsheetsdesignedtohelpme teachandmy studentsto
learnvarioustopicsinMathematicsrangingfrom ArithmeticandFractions toComplex Numbersand
Calculus. These have become verypopularwithmystudents andIam now embarkingonturning
some of these intoappsfor the iPad.