Marita Cheng is the founder and CEO of Aubot  (formerly 2Mar Robotics), which makes a telepresence robot, Teleport, for kids with cancer in hospital to attend school, people with a disability to attend work and to monitor and socialise with elderly people. As well as telepresence robots, Aubot does research and development in robotic arms, virtual reality and autonomous mapping and navigation. Aubot has been recognised on a global scale through the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia in 2016, and through being called "the coolest girl at CES 2014" by VentureBeat magazine.

In her early life, Marita Cheng was born in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. She grew up in housing commission with her brother and single-parent mother, who worked as a hotel room cleaner. She graduated from high school in 2006 in the top 0.2% of the nation, and that year was awarded Cairns Young Citizen of the Year. 

Marita went on to study a Bachelor of Engineering  (Mechatronics) / Bachelor of Computer Science at the University of Melbourne. Whilst there, she noticed the low number of girls in her engineering classes, so she rounded up her fellow engineering peers and they went to schools to teach girls robotics, as a way to encourage girls into engineering. While on academic exchange at Imperial College London, Marita expanded the group to London and through innovation and sheer will, Marita then expanded Robogals throughout Australia, the UK, the USA and Japan. The group runs robotics workshops, career talks and various other community activities to introduce young women to engineering. Marita was named the 2012 Young Australian of the Year for demonstrating vision and leadership well beyond her years as the Founder and Executive Director of Robogals Global.

Robogals has now taught 100,000 girls from 11 countries our robotics workshops across 32 chapters. Robogals has been internationally recognised though the Global Engineering Deans Council Diversity in Engineering Award (2014), Grace Hopper Celebration’s Anita Borg Change Agent Award (2011), and the International Youth Foundation’s YouthActionNet Fellowship (2011).

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Dr Jenine Beekhuyzen is a futurist who believes existing structures in the technology industry must change in order to serve tomorrow’s digital landscape, and that our children’s future job prospects depend on it. She is a renowned advocate for technology innovation and diversity in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) , drawing on on her unparalleled experience, encompassing over 18 years of internationally published research and university teaching to promote her vision for Australia’s future in technology. 

Most notably, Jenine is the Founder and CEO of the Tech Girls Movement, dedicated to giving girls the opportunity to build their skills in the fields of STEM. Jenine has devoted more than 5 years to the Foundation, which has, to date, distributed over 80,000 free books to schools all over Australia and aims to engage over 10,000 girls directly in STEM Entrepreneurship by 2020.

Jenine is a respected businesswoman and entrepreneur and has been CEO of her own technology consulting company, Adroit Research since 2007. Her expertise in the field was recognised in 2017 when she was the recipient of the prestigious Pearcey Award for Entrepreneur of the Year for Queensland.

Charlotte has a masters degree in clinical psychology and a PhD in neuroscience. She runs her private practice in Melbourne specialising in adolescents and executives. She is a passionate advocate of mental health, particularly for young people and combines her knowledge in psychology and neuroscience to effectively communicate about the brain and developmental needs of young people as a clinician, media personality and researcher.
 
Charlotte obtained her PhD at Monash University. She has 17 publications, including 3 book chapters. Her research is on the topic of anxiety, depression and body image and eating disorders. Arising from that research, she has two granted patents. She received a Neuroimaging Fellowship from Swinburne University. She is an Associate Editor at the international journal, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews. Charlotte is a Member of the National Centre Against Bullying, and an Advisor to The Alannah and Madeline Foundation, that aims to keep young people safe in the community. Charlotte is a Member of the Australian Psychological Society and an Associate Member of the College of Clinical Psychologists.
 
Charlotte is known for her segments as the Resident psychologist on ABC Radio, Afternoons. She regularly speaks on the topic of mental health and anxiety on National Radio, podcasts and in print media. Charlotte has appeared on channel 10’s The Project and was featured as the psychologist for the ABC documentary “Surviving Schools: My Year 7 Life” where she discussed the challenges and triumphs faced by young people in transitioning from primary to secondary school.
 
While a large component of her work is involved in how the adolescent brain copes with stress, particularly in the final years of school, Charlotte also translates this work into the executive space. She is a bi-annual panel member for the Victorian Bar Readers Course and contributes as a presenter for the continuing professional development requirements for Victorian Barristers on managing stress with ‘the role perfectionism and self-sabotage’ in their careers.

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