Member Login - Account - Logout

Science and Technology Australia
  • Home
  • About STA
    • Who is STA?
    • Our history
    • Alliances and Partnerships
    • Board and Executive
    • Governance
    • Work for us
    • Reconciliation Action Plan
    • Policy Vision
    • Policy Wins
  • News and Publications
    • Latest news
    • Reports and publications
  • Our Programs
    • Science Meets Parliament
    • Parliamentary Friends of Science
    • Superstars of STEM
    • Science Policy Fellows Alumni
    • Super STEM communicator workshop
    • STEM Ambassadors
  • Events
    • Science Meets Parliament 2023
  • Membership
    • Our Members
    • Why be a member?
    • Member Benefits Program
    • Join STA
    • Member How-to Guides
    • Login to member portal
    • Register for member portal
  • Contact
    • Media
  • Home
  • About STA
    • Who is STA?
    • Our history
    • Alliances and Partnerships
    • Board and Executive
    • Governance
    • Work for us
    • Reconciliation Action Plan
    • Policy Vision
    • Policy Wins
  • News and Publications
    • Latest news
    • Reports and publications
  • Our Programs
    • Science Meets Parliament
    • Parliamentary Friends of Science
    • Superstars of STEM
    • Science Policy Fellows Alumni
    • Super STEM communicator workshop
    • STEM Ambassadors
  • Events
    • Science Meets Parliament 2023
  • Membership
    • Our Members
    • Why be a member?
    • Member Benefits Program
    • Join STA
    • Member How-to Guides
    • Login to member portal
    • Register for member portal
  • Contact
    • Media
14 March 2019

STEM Ambassador inspiring Parliament to look to the sky

Simon Mutch and Tim Watts

In his quest for knowledge, STEM Ambassador Dr Simon Mutch is trying to find out how the universe’s first galaxies formed and how they evolve over time.

“We all want to understand how we came to be here,” Dr Mutch said

“The first galaxies are the ancestors of all the galaxies we see in the universe, and if we want to understand how the Milky Way evolved, we need to study them.”

Dr Mutch is one of the inaugural STEM Ambassadors, and is working with Member for Gellibrand, Tim Watts, to connect science and politics. He has identified two main challenges in his field that would benefit greatly from science and policy working together more effectively.

“Looking at these early galaxies, we need really big telescopes that collect a lot of light, and these are expensive endeavours,” he said.

“These used to be built by individual countries, but now we’re seeing more multinational collaborations to build these facilities.”

“The other challenge is dealing with the huge amount of data coming from this new research infrastructure.”

He said that the data and technology that is built to explore space has made many contributions to technologies we use today – such as the study of black holes helping to drive the development of Wi-Fi, and the creation of sensitive X-ray detectors for studying the universe being adapted for use in medicine.

He said the need to see further and to process more data would lead to similar developments in new technology.

“A lot of the time we have to develop new industrial procedures, or even new materials to build new facilities,” he said.

“These can often go on to have uses in areas like medical imaging, satellite technology and monitoring.”

As an Ambassador, Dr Mutch serves as a connector between Parliament and the local STEM community. He said one of his earliest successes in his role as an Ambassador was during the delays to ARC funding in late 2018.

“I was able to give first hand accounts of how the delays were effecting researchers, particularly those with visas to work in Australia,” Dr Mutch said.

“Mr Watts is very understanding of the value of STEM, and has been very happy to discuss these issues.”

He hopes that following this early success, he can begin to expand his influence and approach other decision makers to widen his impact.

“Science provides us with an opportunity to make decisions based on facts and our best knowledge, it can help us make predictions for the future and give Australians the best chance for success.”

Share
advocacy policy science STEM Ambassador technology
Previous StoryGoogle announces Superstars of STEM partnership
Next StoryHave you accessed STA member benefits yet?

Related Articles

  • climate_change_legislation(2)_220815
    Pass the climate legislation and ‘name and fame’ transition leaders
  • markus-spiske-IiEFmIXZWSw-unsplash
    Nominations open for the STA Policy Committee and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee

ABOUT US

Science & Technology Australia (STA) is Australia’s peak body in science and technology. We represent more than 115,000 scientists and technologists. STA is an influential voice for evidence and expertise in public policy.

Recent news

  • Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic’s National Press Club address – Science Meets Parliament 2023
  • Win up to $100,000 investment to commercialise your clean agri-food technology
  • Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic’s Welcome speech to Science Meets Parliament 2023

Our members

  • All Members
  • Agricultural and Food Sciences
  • Aquatic Sciences
  • Biological Sciences
  • Chemical Sciences
  • General Science and Technology
  • Geographical and Geological Sciences
  • Mathematical Sciences
  • Medical and Cognitive Sciences
  • Physical Sciences
  • Plant and Ecological Sciences
  • Technological Sciences

Search for news

Most popular

  • SMP 2023 scholarships: open now
  • STA backs Voice to Parliament
  • Nine scoop a scholarship to Science Meets Parliament
  • A science future fund to supercharge economic growth: Budget 2023
  • Win up to $100,000 investment to commercialise your clean agri-food technology

Sign up to our newsletter

STA PRIVACY POLICY

OTHER STA POLICIES

Twitter feed

  • RT @sooJeeBee: Thank you Serena Williams and family for your deadly welcome to Ngunnawal country and President of @ScienceAU @prof_hutchins…
  • RT @cosmicpudding: Ready and waiting for our #smp2023 meeting with @Josh4Freo! Looking forward to discussing #science, #astronomy and the f…
  • RT @harisazizk: Meeting with Education minister @JasonClareMP, on ARC, pathways for ECRs & other issues. @tiahnijade @ScienceAU #smp2023…
  • Finding out about forging a new golden era of science at #ScienceMeetsParliament - @ScienceAU President… https://t.co/T7nfDABg3c
Follow us

Science and Technology Australia Limited (ACN 664 679 056 and ABN 71 626 822 845) (STA) is a company limited by guarantee. STA was formerly known as Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies Inc and was authorised under section 82 of the Associations Incorporation Act 1991 (ACT) to transfer its registration under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) to its new company structure on 3 January 2023.

Registered charity logo
Click here for more info
  • HOME
  • News and media releases
  • Become a member
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact

Copyright © 2023 Science & Technology Australia. All Rights Reserved