Not Too Cool for School • Luisa Panuccio

(Project Manager, Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure || Australia)

“It’s cool to be smart. That’s my message to kids. I’ve been able to ask them, ‘Do you know an engineer? What do you think they do? Do you like science and maths?’ Particularly with the younger kids, the response I get is, ‘It’s not cool, I don’t want to be a nerd.’ When kids don’t know real scientists or engineers, the media’s portrayal of them as ‘nerds’ becomes these kids’ perception — think, ‘The Big Bang Theory.’ That stereotype, it’s just not true! That’s what I’m trying to change. I’m trying to show kids it’s cool to try in school. STEM professionals are the reason your toilet flushes and you have electricity. STEM professionals are the ones out there finding a vaccine for COVID. My latest science outreach project, STEM at HOME, started because of COVID — my cousin called and said her kids were crazy bored, could I film a science experiment for them? And it took off from there.

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I started working for a construction company while I was at uni studying civil engineering. A typical day on site started at 6am and ended at 6pm! I wanted to get into design — going from concept to construction — so I moved to another company. A month in, there was a new contract with the government to manage 20 traffic intersection upgrades, and I ended up taking on the roles of lead site engineer and assistant contract manager. The experience I gained through working on this project resulted in me being hired in a project manager role when I was 23. Now I’m managing two major intersections’ upgrades in Adelaide, working with designers, contractors, and the community to develop solutions that balance the needs of the projects’ various stakeholders.

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People have told me, as you progress further in your engineering career, you’re going to have to let this outreach stuff go. But I’ll leave a company before I let it go. I’d like to blend being an engineer and a science communicator. I want to be able to stand in front of a group of kids — as an engineer — and say, ‘here’s why you should do engineering.’”

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Check out Luisa’s YouTube channel for STEM at HOME here: http://bit.ly/stem_at_home