THE PROGRESS REPORT: The drone age and STEM’s next generation

Joint-capabilities
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By: Robyn Tongol

How do you go from growing up in Ukraine to winning Academic of the Year in Australia? Dr Oleksandra Molloy, senior lecturer in aviation at UNSW Canberra, shares her extraordinary journey. Tash Taylor dives into Oleksandra’s courageous move to Australia and her experience pioneering research in emerging technologies, particularly her vital work on drones in modern warfare and the Defence Trailblazer program.

How do you go from growing up in Ukraine to winning Academic of the Year in Australia? Dr Oleksandra Molloy, senior lecturer in aviation at UNSW Canberra, shares her extraordinary journey. Tash Taylor dives into Oleksandra’s courageous move to Australia and her experience pioneering research in emerging technologies, particularly her vital work on drones in modern warfare and the Defence Trailblazer program.

Oleksandra details her efforts to inspire the next generation of women in STEM and offers practical insight into managing a high-impact academic career with family life, emphasising that resilience is key to achieving high goals and making a lasting impact in complex and essential industries.

The Progress Report. New voices. Real stories. Big shifts.

Enjoy the podcast,
The Progress Report team

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Listen to previous episodes of the Defence Connect podcast:

Episode 11: CONTESTED GROUND: Apathy, complacency and the ‘Lucky Country’, Australia’s predicament is entirely self-inflicted, with Ben Dullroy
Episode 10: SPECIAL EDITION PODCAST: 125 years of the Royal Australian Navy and Australian Army
Episode 9: CONTESTED GROUND: Australian resilience during a crisis and sovereign industrial capability
Episode 8: CONTESTED GROUND: From Tehran to Sydney – why war could reshape Australian property
Episode 7: SPOTLIGHT: Inside Australia’s AUKUS industrial transformation, with Honeywell Aerospace Australia senior director Lee Davis
Episode 6: CONTESTED GROUND: War without borders – the disinformation threat arriving in Australia
Episode 5: THE PROGRESS REPORT: The mission to make military children visible
Episode 4: PODCAST: Righting the ship, balancing the force, with Senator James Paterson, shadow minister for defence
Episode 3: SPOTLIGHT: Modern electronic warfare, spectrum congestion and the Australian defence ecosystem, with DEWC Services’ Rian Whitby
Episode 2: CONTESTED GROUND: The intersection of finance, organised crime, terrorism and foreign interference, with Keith Bulfin