Flight Lieutenant Sarah uses her STEM skills every day to work out how tech can help Defence
Sarah never saw herself working in Defence, despite her dad being in the Air Force, but realised it could offer the variety she wanted in a career: “I wanted the ability to work with different technologies in different environments and change my role every few years.”
After studying engineering at uni, Sarah undertook officer training and began working in Air Force engineering. In her current role in Space Force Design and Integration, she analyses various capabilities that Defence has and finds ways to better meet the operational needs of the military.
“It’s not often in engineering you get to both develop a need and find the solution. Usually you get given one or the other, so I am really enjoying that,” she says.
In her last role, Sarah even worked on a space-based missile warning network: “The technology is amazing. I loved working with it and learning as I went.”
Her advice for anyone considering STEM and Defence?
“Don’t be scared of doing what you enjoy and changing things up when you want a change.”
Sarah’s study and career path to become a Defence engineer
- Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)
- Officer training school
- Deployment to the Middle East on OP Accordian
- Australia Day Achievement Award for Excellence in sustaining Australia’s space domain awareness capabilities
- Masters in project management
- Defence engineer, Air Force
This article was first published in Careers with STEM: Defence 2023. For more Defence role models, head to our STEM + Defence role model hub!
