The DATTA Vic Team
Office bearers and general committee members
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President - Zowie Moselen Zowie is the Head of Technology at Hoppers Crossing Secondary College. Prior to taking on this role, took a break from Textiles teaching to work as Creative Coordinator for Lincraft, helping produce creative craft, knitting and sewing projects for all skill levels. Zowie co-authored the Cambridge VCE Units 1-4 PD&T Text Book and Workbook. She has been involved in the DATTA Vic committee for several years as the representative for Textiles teachers, and in 2019 was elected as Vice President. She was elected President in 2023. | Vice President - Jill Livett Jill is currently teaching Design and Technology to Middle Year students at Overnewton Anglican Community College (Melbourne). She has 25 years’ experience in teaching D&T at middle and senior secondary level, teaching in the material areas of wood with some metal and plastics, textiles and simple systems. For the last 5 years, she has also taught tertiary Technology method classes in a number of universities. Jill has been involved in curriculum writing, reviewing and resourcing, and co-authored the VCE Product Design and Technology textbook and workbooks and the DATTA Vic Support Material. She is currently the vice president of DATTA Vic.
| Vice President - Michael Slinger Michael is a Systems Engineering and Product Design teacher with 13 years’ experience within different education systems and a professional background in Industrial Design. He is passionate about thoughtfully employing digital technology to enable new learning designs, and coaching colleagues in improving their own practice. Michael is currently the Head of the Design and Technologies Faculty at St Michael's Grammar School, and in his role with DATTA Vic, he hopes to support more schools to establish and grow VCE Systems Engineering. |
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Treasurer - Michael Essex Michael started his working life as a furniture maker completing a apprenticeship in 1992 and making and designing furniture for a further ten years. After completing arts degree and diploma of education he moved to Auckland and taught a range of technology subjects from trade based furniture units to electronics and more general materials technology. Since returning to Australia he has been teaching at Lalor North College teaching Product Design at all levels with a wood focus and junior systems. After several years spent on the committee as a general member, he took on the role of Vice President in 2018, and then became Treasurer the following year. | Bridget O'Leary Bridget O’Leary is a Facilitator at Yarra Ranges Tech School, where she is responsible for remote regional programs, LGBTIQ+ inclusive team training, and running Human Centered Design Thinking programs. Prior to this she spent 16 years teaching English as an additional language and seven years as Language School Manager at Schoolhouse English Language Centre in Taiwan. She regularly runs teacher professional learning programs on emerging technologies for DATTA Vic. Bridget is an enthusiastic champion of inclusive practices and received a recognition award from Monash College for LGBTIQ inclusive teaching practices/training for educators. |
General Board Members |
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Hao Ong (Andy) Ding Hau Ong is currently the Expert Teaching in Residence (Technologies) at the Academy of Teaching & Leadership after several years working as the Wellbeing and Inclusion Leader at Gleneagles Secondary College. Previous to this he was the Art and Technology Teacher at a specialist school for young people with a disability. He enjoys developing partnerships with communities and organisations to advocate for the lifelong participation of children and young people with a disability in the arts and design. He believes that all students can enjoy and achieve their personal best through accessing a learning community, where they can develop resilience, independence and interests in nurturing their skills and creative voice. | Christopher Simpson Chris moved to Australia in 1999 and began a career in Medical Instrumentation and research, which re-invigorated his passion for electronics and design. Following this, he moved into education, working in various support roles before undertaking his DipEd and becoming a Design & Technologies & Systems Engineering teacher. Chris is now Head of Technology at Girton Grammar School, Bendigo. He has run a number of teacher professional learning programs for teachers on Systems Engineering on behalf of DATTA Vic. He feels very passionate about all of the things that Design and Technologies can offer students that are not available anywhere else in school, with a really strong pull into Engineering. | Felicity McNamara With over 20 years of experience teaching PD&T, Felicity has guided students across the MYP, VCE, and IB to develop creative, purposeful, and ethical design solutions. Working primarily with wood, metal, and plastics, she combines traditional tools and processes with emerging technologies to bring ideas to life. Passionate about design as a force for good, Felicity encourages her students to look beyond themselves and design with empathy and sustainability in mind. She has also contributed to the community through her work with the VCAA, Deakin university and various publications, supporting curriculum development and assessment. Committed to collaboration, she loves helping other teachers develop a strong understanding of the curriculum and find engaging ways to deliver it. Her students’ work has been exhibited multiple times in Top Designs and other major exhibitions, with several being recognised as finalists and winners in the Premier’s Design Awards. |
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Jacinta O'Leary Jacinta has been strongly committed to Design and Technology since its inception. After teaching in the classroom for many years she moved to Distance Education. It was here she developed her writing skills. Since then she has written a lot of material for both teachers and students in this subject. This includes writing for VCAA, support material for teachers, text books and workbooks for students. Jacinta regularly runs professional development sessions for teachers and students for both DATTA Vic and VCAA. She has been a committee member of DATTA Vic for over 10 years. Jacinta is generous in her support of others in the field, sharing her resources and ideas. She is always willing to talk through issues with teachers or students. | Joanne Heide Joanne began her teaching career in London, where she taught Design and Technology and Graphic Products. Upon returning to Australia, she continued to pursue her passion for the subject, taking on various teaching and leadership roles. She is currently the Deputy Head of Art and Design at Methodist Ladies' College. Joanne teaches Design and Technologies to students in Years 7–10, as well as VCE PD&T in Years 11 & 12. She has co-authored a PD&T textbook with Cambridge Press, and has contributed to curriculum development through projects with DATTA Vic, including STEM in Art at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art and Forest Learning. She has written curriculum for Years 7 and 8 D&T for the Victorian Curriculum 2.0 and co- authored teacher support materials for VCE PD&T Units 1–4. | Michael Gowers Michael trained as a teacher in England before moving to New Zealand. While working in New Zealand he was a marker and assessor for the New Zealand Qualifications Authority in Social Science and ICT. He completed his Masters of Educational Management at Auckland University before moving to Melbourne. Since teaching in Australia he has focussed his efforts in the electronic and electrical field and now teaches pre apprentice electricians. As well as being Faculty and STEAM leader at his school, Michael also teaches junior technology and VCE Systems Engineering. |
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Rianne Burroughs Rianne teaches Technologies at Templestowe College. Originally from Canada, she had a background in engineering prior to beginning her career in education. Rianne is heavily involved in the VEX Robotics program in Australia, and even led a team of female students from Templestowe College to win the World VEX Robotics Competition in the U.S! She has delivered a number of teacher professional learning programs on behalf of DATTA Vic, including sessions on robotics and coding and getting started with CAD. | Veena Nair Veena was awarded the 2022 Prime Minister's Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching. She is Head of Technology and STEAM at Viewbank College, and has been involved in the work of DATTA Vic for several years. In 2016, she won the DATTA Australia Teacher of the Year award. She is committed to developing partnerships with industry and academia, establishing a successful STEAM Futures conference at Viewbank college and initiating the STEAM Club, in which 150+ students regularly participate. She is also involved in the Young Person’s Plan for the Planet program, and through this, Viewbank have developed close partnerships with low SES schools in Mumbai, allowing staff and students to support these institutions to develop their own social enterprises in their communities. |
Staff |
| Executive/Education Officer: Laura Murphy | 03 9349 5809 | pl@datta.vic.edu.au Office Manager: Emma Fritsch | 03 9349 1538 | admin@datta.vic.edu.au |
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