REDI News: IMNIS Launches New Catalyst Program for Next Generation STEM Professionals : MTPConnect

31 March 2021

This year the Industry Mentoring Network in STEM (IMNIS) is forging 350 mentoring partnerships by connecting PhD students and postdoctoral researchers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics with influential industry leaders in a one-year mentoring and professional development program.

And today, the Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) announced it is building on this successful industry engagement program by launching IMNIS Catalyst - an alumni program providing the opportunity for past mentees to engage more broadly throughout the STEM ecosystem to inspire and engage the next generation.

MTPConnect supports IMNIS and the new Catalyst program through the REDI initiative which is focused on improving workforce skills and driving jobs growth across the MTP sector value chain.

ATSE Chief Executive Kylie Walker said Catalyst participants will be given the opportunity to share what they’ve learned about industry careers and the broader STEM ecosystem through the IMNIS program with their peers and with senior high school students.

“Catalyst is a powerful extension of the IMNIS initiative since it connects today’s high school students with early-career STEM professionals at a time when they are making key decisions about their future studies. This ensures Australia’s Year 10 to 12 students understand where a qualification in STEM can take them,” Ms Walker said.

“This is a core focus of ATSE – to foster a mobile, highly skilled STEM workforce that is inclusive and diverse.”

Congratulations to the inaugural IMNIS Catalyst participants listed here:

Olumide O. Opeyemi: PhD student, Queensland University of Technology
Navpreet Kaur: Senior Bioprocess Scientist, Thermo Fisher Scientific
Greg Bass: Senior Scientist – Image Analytics and Systems Biology, CSL
Fatematuz Zohora: Research Engineer & Lead Tutor, Queensland University of Technology
Edith Botchway: Postdoctoral Researcher, Deakin University
Kay Myo Min: PhD student, University of South Australia
Catriona Nguyen-Robertson: PhD student, University of Melbourne
Samantha Papavasiliou: Risk Manager, Australian Taxation Office & lecturer at University of Adelaide
Thilanka Morawakage: BRACE Trial Project Assistant, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
Nick Hong Seng Lee: Laser Development Engineer, Vaxxas

A survey of IMNIS alumni found 90-percent of mentees were influenced to consider work in industry or had begun to work in industry already.

Check out the IMNIS Catalyst program for more information.