A Passion for Technology

We are so fortunate to have in our midst people who proudly represent St Margaret’s College beyond our campus.  

An individual who is making the most of the opportunities available at St Margaret’s College is Hattie Compton-Moen.  Not only has Hattie been a willing participant in all things tech, she also unselfishly provides opportunities for others to grow and catch the passion that she has for technology.  Last year Hattie was a facilitator in many initiatives instigated from the Centre of Innovation.  Hattie supported the pre-school with the Beebot progamme, she was a facilitator at the Bays Cluster Tech Fest for the Sumner areas schools and she represented the students on a panel when we hosted Adriana Gascoigne.

Attending the Singularity U Conference last year was an opportunity for Hattie to be inspired by international speakers.  Only last weekend, Hattie was participating in the Global Student Conference which was held online.  This forum was focussed at students presenting to students.  One of the aims of the conference was to foster a better understanding of how STEM and entrepreneurship engage students, teachers, and administrators in a conversation about learning.

We are immensely proud that Hattie presented at this conference.  When I asked her for some reflections about this event she said,

“I actually found it really fun to present, and I think it was a great first experience learning how to create and show a presentation in this situation. It was amazing seeing the different places around the world that people came from. One attendee said that they would use the information I presented to help start a girls' robotics club in their community, and I am incredibly grateful that I had the opportunity to share my experiences with others and help them to stop gender inequality in technology in their own community.”

Bryn Lewis is the founding member of our Internet of Things Club that runs on Thursday after school.  He has a huge passion for supporting girls in tech.  Bryn brings a wealth of knowledge and the girls and they are spoilt for choice in projects where they can develop their coding.  This year, the group is faced with a vast range of projects such as building and writing the code for a pet monitor, a heart rate monitor, creating an iPod, particle pollution sensor, energy and water monitoring sensors, gathering data for soil and moisture sensors in an organic walnut farm, and creating props for robocup.  

Bryn has had many challenges through 2016, but despite the setbacks he remains loyal to St Margaret’s College.  His dedication in providing our girls the chance to work in projects that measure and monitor our local community has been strong.  Through Bryn, St Margaret’s College was being proudly promoted in Australia at the recent Microsoft Ignite Conference in February.  This conference showcased innovation, learning and planning for what’s next in tech.  We are immensely thankful to have his support in bringing our girls the awareness of a future career pathway in technology.