Dr Morley Muse
Dr Ruwangi Fernando

How Diversity Influences Innovation: Missed Opportunities in Australian STEM sector

Dr Morley Muse

Co-founder iSTEM Co., Women in STEMM Australia

Dr Muse is a STEM leader and a board director for women in STEMM Australia, WISA (https://womeninscienceaust.org/board/). She is a former ambassador for CSIRO’s Innovation Catalyst Global championing the ‘Find Her’ tool which connects female STEM academics to industry partners. Dr Muse is also on the advisory panel for Elevate Women in STEM Program with The Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) which was awarded $41.2 million to manage the delivery of up to 500 university scholarships. Dr Muse is the winner of the 2022 Women’s Agenda Awards for the Emerging Leader in the STEM category. She has also been named a finalist for the Victoria University Alumni Awards under the Rising Star category. Dr Muse holds a PhD in Environmental Engineering, MSc in Sustainable Power Technology and a bachelor’s in Chemical/Environmental Engineering.

Dr Ruwangi Fernando

Co-founder iSTEM Co., STEM Sisters

Dr Fernando has a strong history of advocating for diversity and inclusion for STEM women of colour (WoC). She is the founder of STEM Sisters, a not-for-profit that empowers WoC across Australia. She was recognized for her efforts and awarded a STEM Women Changemaker by the Australian Academy of Science. Also, she received the Business award category for the TechDiversity Awards. She holds a PhD in Data Science, a master’s in Human Resource Management and Strategic IT management, and a bachelor’s in IT. She was awarded a Data 61 full scholarship with top-up during her PhD at Victoria University. She has been named a finalist for the 2022 Victoria University Alumni awards under the Professional Achievement category.

Dr Muse and Dr Fernando are founders of iSTEM Co., a research, consulting and talent-sourcing business geared towards enabling employment and retention of women in STEM including women of colour and women from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds in STEM. Notably among iSTEM Co.’s achievements is being the winner of the  VU’s BETA Pre-Accelerator Award this year, 2022 aimed at encouraging innovative business ideas. In addition, iSTEM Co. collaborated with Victoria University to host the first-ever in-person careers fair (https://istemco.com/index.php/careersfair/) for WoC in STEM having over 10 companies represented and providing about 20 job opportunities. See links: https://www.vu.edu.au/about-vu/news-events/news/vu-hosts-career-fair-to-champion-women-of-colour-in-stem. In addition, iSTEM Co. has recently being nominated as a finalist for the 2022 Digital Workforce Skills for the Future awards https://womenindigital.org/women-in-digital-awards/2022-women-in-digital-awards-finalists/