STEM Alumni Steering Group

Steve Matheson
BSc ’74 (Hons) ‘ 75
Retired, former Senior Executive and ABS
 

Born 1953 Adelaide South Australia.  Married with 2 adult children.  BScHons (Flinders 1974), MPA (Harvard 1984).  Mathematical statistician and ultimately a senior executive with the Australian Bureau of Statistics 1975-2008.  Now retired apart from voluntary work.

Jenny Pilkington
BInfTech ‘03
SA Police - Head of Operational Services (IT)
 

Since graduating from the Bachelor of Information Technology in 2003,  Jenny Pilkington has worked in various IT roles in Adelaide in professional services, construction, agriculture, insurance and is now the Director of Operational Services (IT) for South Australia Police. Jenny’s career has primarily focused on the operational support of corporate IT systems, leading transformational change to improve customer service, risk management, quality, and continuous improvement. Outside of work, Jenny enjoys camping and 4WDing, as well as baking and catching up with friends.

Karan Godara
InfTech ‘20
City of Holdfast Bay – Business Application Specialist

Karan Godara graduated from Flinders University as an International student in Dec 2019 with a Masters in IT. Karan’s thesis was on the adoption of autonomous submarines in the Australian Defence force. He commenced his career with a multinational gaming company as a test engineer. Shortly after he moved over to a small, local SA-based Integration Company as a systems analyst working on an ERP system. From there Karan gained a position for the City of Holdfast Bay (Brighton Council), where he is employed as a Business Application Specialist. Karan is responsible for developing and maintaining SaaS platforms and business applications. Karan’s time in Australia and with Flinders University have propelled Karan to grow and upskill in many areas of his career.

Ellen Carter
BAppGIS(Hons) ‘13
Esri – Senior Consulant

Ellen graduated from Flinders University with a degree in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) degree in 2013. Ellen is now working as a GIS Esri Administrator for the City of Marion, having been trained specifically in the Esri software package, and she is at the forefront of managing databases and servers that present GIS outputs for everything from strategic planning of all the council’s physical assets to marketing.

Thomas Beltrame
BEng(Biome)(Hons),MEng(Biomed) ‘20 PhD candidate
Aurizn – Data Scientist

Thomas is currently pursuing a Doctoral degree at Flinders University, investigating the intersection between rehabilitation, music therapy and virtual reality. He has also been expanding his machine learning and software engineering skills as a Data Scientist at Aurizn (formerly Consillium Technology), where Thomas has worked since completing his master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering (First Class). Thomas’ professional experience includes designing artificially intelligent solutions for agricultural, construction, mining, and defence applications. His project experience includes assistive musical instrument and facial recognition algorithm development, and motion capture analysis.

Thomas hopes to apply his engineering and programmatic knowledge to progress the biomedical field through advancements in rehabilitation and assistive technology.

Shane Rix
BSc(Hons) ‘15
Lastek - Biomedical Technology Scientist
 

Shane Rix works as a Biomedical Technology Scientist at Lastek, a company that sells advanced scientific equipment and designs and develops prototype technology. His specialties include biomedical applications, advanced microscopy (lightsheet and STED), clearing and labelling of biological samples, and consultation on biomedical prototypes.  Shane studied a Bachelor of Medical Science and Bachelor of Science (Honours) at Flinders University and graduated in 2014. Shane was also a candidate in the 2022 State Election for the Liberal Party.

Luke Ragless
BSc ’18 (Animal Behaviour)
Healthy Environs - Sustainability Consultant
 

Luke Ragless is a Senior Program Data and Regulatory Officer at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF). 

After spending several years as an Animal Technician at a university, he pursued a Bachelor of Science (Animal Behaviour) at Flinders University.

Following his studies, Luke worked with the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN), conducting field surveys and collecting soil and vegetation samples across Australia's diverse ecosystems. He then joined PIRSA's South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), focusing on water management practices for grape growers during drought conditions.

Luke later spent six years as a project manager for an Adelaide-based consultancy, delivering projects in community wellbeing, public health, and environmental sustainability.

In his current role at DAFF, Luke is responsible for the administration and reform of export certification systems, development and management of data reports for a wide range of stakeholders—including internal teams, senior executives, counsellors, and the Minister's Office—and data analysis to ensure regulatory compliance within the export supply chain. He also contributes to policy and legislative development through data modelling and strategic analysis.

Outside of work, Luke enjoys spending time with his family and exploring the outdoors whenever possible, in particular,  birdwatching.

Suni Edson
PhD(Biol) ‘19
Assistant Technical Leader – PAS Armed Forces Medical Examiner System

Suni M. Edson graduated from Flinders University in 2019 with her PhD focusing on Forensic Genetics. Dr. Edson resides on the East Coast of the United States and is the Assistant Technical Leader of the Past Accounting Section of the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL). As part of this laboratory for 23 years, Dr. Edson has been involved in the identification of missing U.S. service members from events dating back to World War II. The extensive participation in the identification efforts has allowed Dr. Edson to focus her research on improving the recovery of DNA from skeletonized remains, a topic on which she regularly publishes and presents.