Our celebrations included the Ada Lovelace Peer Recognition Award, which is awarded to a woman in the department who works in STEM.
Congratulations to Ling Krah on winning the 2019 Peer Recognition Award.
In congratulating Ling on her win, Jacinda de Witts, Deputy Secretary of Legal and Executive Services, and the department's gender equality champion, said, "Ling was chosen for showing a passion for innovative technology and demonstrating creative and independent thinking during her time on the Better Health Channel, from developing a program from scratch, to enhancing and implementing the new improved features."
Ling is one of the original team who developed the Better Health Channel. It is now one of the most popular health and medical websites in Australia with over two million unique visitors each month, having received many awards, including being ranked the number one health and medical website in Australia.
She now leads a team with expertise in online user experience, design, innovation and engagement.
Growing up in China with geologist parents, the value of education and life-long learning was ingrained in Ling. Her studies took her to Germany, and later to Australia.
"In my early career, there were not many female computer programmers," said Ling. "I learned so much from my male colleagues. I also learned a lot from other colleagues in finance, procurement, home and community care, and disability. When you build a specific software or web application for a program area, you learn so much because you try to make the application work for your colleagues and make their job easier," she said.
"The landscape of digital communication has changed so much. There are now many women in the field. In the digital team in Communications and Media branch, we have such a diverse group of talented people, with qualifications in engineering, computer science, psychology, library studies, design, social media, writing and editing, health promotion, even music! It's a field that needs people with a wide range of skills. That's what makes it an interesting and exciting place to work." said Ling.
"I'm so pleased that my daughter chose three science subjects for her VCE and will likely pursue a science career, because it's great to work in STEM!"
