STEM scholarship inspires student to aim for excellence
Lily Edwards likes nothing more than solving a problem, so seemed destined to study Mechatronic Engineering at Curtin. Mechatronics, a heady mix of electrical, mechanical and software engineering, has spawned intelligent systems such as NASA鈥檚 Curiosity Rover, i-Limb鈥檚 bionic prosthesis and the immensely popular Roomba robot vacuum cleaner.
Last year, Lily built her first autonomous robot at Curtin and, at just 20 years of age, she鈥檚 bucking the national STEM trend. Females currently make up just of enrolments in university STEM courses and only of STEM-qualified jobs are held by women – numbers the Federal Government is focused on improving with its Advancing Women in STEM Strategy.
In 2023, Lily was awarded the Christine Foster Memorial Scholarship, which supports female students pursuing science and engineering courses at Curtin.
Established by Christine鈥檚 former WASM classmates and friends, the scholarship honours Christine鈥檚 life, which was cut tragically short while on a working holiday in the UK in June 2000.
Christine grew up in Kalgoorlie and attained a Bachelor of Engineering (Mining) at the WA School of Mines Kalgoorlie campus 1993-1996. Following graduation, Christine pursued a career in mining, gaining early experience in Australian and New Zealand underground mines.
She was highly respected by her peers and was a motivated professional, improving standards and challenging barriers for females in her chosen career path.
Lily said it was humbling that Christine鈥檚 peers had created this scholarship in her memory and vowed to do her proud.
鈥淐hristine sounded like a great woman, and it was very unfortunate what happened to her,鈥欌�� she said.
鈥淭here was so much more she could have achieved in her life but sadly never got the chance.鈥�
Lily said the Christine Foster Scholarship gave her added financial assistance and encouraged her to aim even higher in her studies.
鈥淜nowing that someone read my profile and said, 鈥榮he deserves the scholarship鈥� made me feel really good and has helped me challenge myself even more,鈥欌�� she said.
Lily said she was inspired to follow a career in STEM after discovering her passion for problem solving while at school.
鈥淥ne of the reasons why I enjoy STEM subjects so much is that you get to see things work. You can see if something is right or wrong, and if it鈥檚 wrong you can review your work and figure it out. There鈥檚 always an answer,鈥欌�� she said.
鈥淚鈥檓 actually the first to study engineering in my family. Both my parents went to university, but my dad studied IT and my mum studied arts and teaching.
鈥淎t school in Geraldton I loved maths and science and was lucky because I had excellent teachers who encouraged and challenged me.
鈥淎t Curtin I鈥檝e also been fortunate to have had some great lecturers. You can tell that they really care about your learning, they want you to succeed and are willing to provide any help you might need.
Lily said studying a course where just 9.9 per cent of her cohort are female had not been without its challenges but said if you鈥檙e interested in studying a STEM course at Curtin, don鈥檛 let the numbers stop you.
鈥淚 think the main thing to remember is if you want to study STEM and it鈥檚 what you want to do with your life, it鈥檚 not really about the men to women ratio so don鈥檛 let that discourage you,鈥欌�� she said.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 imagine how few women Christine studied with back when she was studying. But I鈥檓 sure that it would have been very similar to nowadays though where the women in your class become some of your closest friends.
鈥淎lso, it might be a bit of a 鈥榖oys鈥� industry but 90 per cent of the time those boys will be some of the loveliest people you鈥檒l meet, and you will no doubt find great friends in them as well.鈥�
When Lily graduates, she said she plans to use her mechatronics knowledge in the evolving field of robotics in healthcare.
鈥淚 want to apply engineering to medicine, and I鈥檓 interested using robotics in the field of prosthetics. I want to help people. I grew up very privileged with a supportive family, great school and fantastic teachers and many people don鈥檛 get that. I鈥檇 like to give something back.鈥�
Lily is also passionate about continuing to break down gender barriers by empowering other young women to pursue studies and careers in STEM.
鈥淪TEM offers so many amazing opportunities to make a difference in the world. I鈥檇 love to encourage and mentor more young women to pursue their passion for it,鈥� she says.
鈥淚鈥檝e been lucky enough to be supported by a scholarship for women in STEM, and I鈥檇 like to support women who are aspiring to develop STEM careers in some way too.鈥�
Christine Foster Memorial Scholarship
Support female students studying a science or engineering degree in memory of Christine Foster.
