Tricia Gardiner
Ms Angeline Loh
2000 winner of:
*The Outstanding Woman in a Non-Traditional Area (Higher Education) awarded by The Centre for Gender and Cultural Diversity
*Institute of Engineers Australia Engineering Heroes Award (Student)
Winning two prestigious awards in the one year is a remarkable feat for anyone. But when you are a penultimate year university student with a heavy course workload and working voluntarily to promote Science and Technology, it becomes even more remarkable. Angeline (Angie) Loh is an amazing young woman, whose achievements provide inspiration to other young women interested in Science and Technology.
An Engineering Camp in year
10 was a pivotal in Angie's career choice. Until then, she had thought she
would study arts at university. "I got left behind on a visit to ERG
Telecommunications and stumbled across their Research and Design lab. Their
jobs sounded so fascinating and they ended up inviting me to do some work
experience there."
That experience lead to an interest in Engineering and Angie is now in her fourth year of a combined Bachelor of Science/Bachelor of Engineering degree, majoring in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Computer Science. However, in conjunction with her studies, she does much to promote the discipline she loves.
One of Angie's passions is the GENESIS program. "The GENESIS team is responsible for designing engineering projects that high school students can build from our designs. Examples of projects include an electronic puppet and a turtle that draws pictures on the floor. Being on the GENESIS team means gaining experience in designing, building and programming. It’s very satisfying to see projects through to completion and to get feedback from high schools that incorporate our projects into their classes."
Her involvement with GENESIS encourages not only her love of design, but also of communicating with others. She is a regular presenter of GENESIS work at the triple S Science Fairs, which allows her to bring the world of electronics to people of all ages.
She also works closely with the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Project at The University of Western Australia, where she visits schools as a Student Ambassador to increase students' awareness of Engineering. She has also spoken to women secondary students at careers nights organised by WISE. Of the careers events she attends, she states, "Sometimes girls track me down after a demonstration to find out about engineering. That makes me feel really good!"
Angie also is a Scitech Science Theatre Presenter and a leader for the UWA Engineering Summer Camp which had such an impact upon her life.
If that is not enough, she won the 2000 Robert Holmes à Court Flying Scholarship and is now learning to fly a light aircraft.
Her achievements and involvement in the community assisted in her win of The Outstanding Woman in a Non-Traditional Area (Higher Education) and the Institute of Engineers Australia Engineering Heroes Award (Student) in 2000.
But where to from here? Angie is uncertain as to where she will work as an Engineer, but she says, "I'm glad to have chosen to study such an interesting, diverse field, and I’m looking forward to what lies ahead".