IB Woman
Issue No. 31 - October/November 2006
In the realm of defence
by Penelope Herbert
The Defence Teaming Centre is South Australia's only defence industry association. CEO, Jerry Kleeman, says the industry offers stimulating and challenging career options for women.
He says the 'men with guns' view is archaic and misrepresents the true career opportunities within the defence industry.
With the assistance of the Defence Teaming Centre, I spoke to six women working in very different areas of defence from marketing to software configuration.
Kathy Brown is a Principal Structural Engineer with ASC and is involved with design and integration projects that enhance the capabilities of the Collins Class submarines. With a background in mechanical engineering, Kathy acts as a structural representative to the project providing a link between project management and functional management.
“I undertake analysis work and act as a design authority for the checking and approval of structural design work,” says Kathy. “On a daily basis, I liaise with members from many other disciplines such as mechanical, electrical, communications, design drafting, production, and quality.”
For Tenix Defence Configuration Controller, Penny West, her first 'taste' of defence was working as personal assistant to the software manager on the Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN) Project, managed by Telstra.
“A joint venture company between Tenix and Lockheed Martin, RLM, ultimately took over the project,” says Penny. “RLM wanted to build up a software configuration management team and were looking for resilient people with good organisational and communication skills.
"I was offered a permanent position as a software builder, despite my limited experience. I said 'yes' immediately and started what has been a wonderful journey.”
Her current role in configuration management (CM) seeks to establish and maintain the integrity of work products using configuration identification, configuration con...
