Jul 13, 2022
In this episode, Beth is in the studio and joined by Lynn McDonald, Microsoft Azure Space Lead, Asia Pacific.
Shownotes:
________________________________________
TRANSCRIPT For this episode of The AI in Education Podcast
Series: 5
Episode: 6
This transcript was auto-generated. If you spot any important errors, do feel free to email the podcast hosts for corrections.
Hello everyone. My name is Beth Warl and you are joining us here
today on the AI in education podcast. I am actually by myself today
in that I don't have either Lee or Dan with me, so anything could
happen, which is exciting and terrifying in equal measure. Um,
usually we would reflect a little bit on what we had done over the
weekend. and or over the last week. And um I must say now that I
have a new puppy, I haven't had a very exciting life these last few
weeks, but I did go and enjoy Top Gun. This is a movie that I
wouldn't have necessarily thought I would enjoy, but I loved it so
much that I want to go again and see it as soon as I possibly can.
I am very, very excited to say that we are joined by our very own
Top Gun today. Today, Lynn McDonald. Hi, Lynn. Thanks for joining
us on the podcast.
Hi, Beth. Thanks for having me. Um, I'm not a Top Gun, but I did
see it twice in the same week. So,
no judgment here. No judgment. I I must admit I had um I had
watched the original just to remind me of um you know, the
extensive narrative. Um but obviously in the in the time that the
original was filmed and this latest version, you two things. the
technology and the simulated experiences change but and yet Tom
Cruz's face remains the same in terms of still looking about
that is the magic of Hollywood is
um but Lynn you um are the head of Azure space for Microsoft here
in Australia um now we're going to get on and talk a little bit
about what Azure space means in a minute but you yourself had a
really interesting experience and career in the US military. So,
I'd love to talk to you a little bit about that. But before we do,
tell me Top Gun. You saw it twice in one week. How accurate was it
to the experience that you had in the military, albeit in a
completely different field? Did you Did you Were you drawn into the
story? What did you think of the movie? You obviously liked it if
you saw it twice.
I did. I I mean, the flying scenes were absolutely incredible. It
was So, the second time I stayed And I watched the um I watched
through to the very last uh credit that rolled onto the screen. And
um there was an extensive um engagement with uh with the Navy, with
their public affairs, with their operators, uh with their fighter
weapons school. Um so I was like, "Okay, yeah, they did their
homework." Um some of the flying scenes were pretty um
um well, they're just amazing and fun to watch. watch, but uh some
of the um what they portrayed in the flying scenes, I was like,
"Okay, they definitely um were spot on with uh the advising and um
their interest in in capturing the reality of um the, you know, the
operational environment."
Uh so, um Oh, yeah. Um I could have sat through and watched it back
to back the first time I saw it, but it's certainly made me, you're
right, so much time has passed. Um, from the first uh to the, you
know, Top Gun Maverick, Tom Cruz did manage to hold it
together.
Yeah. Way better than we have in a year. Frankly, it still looks
the same.
While I feel like I was, you know, 30 years older from when I first
saw it, for sure. Uh, but, uh, it definitely made me quite
nostalgic for, uh, my time in the military. I was in the Air Force,
the US Air Force. Um, so, you know, a bit around the flying
environment. Um, but I spent the majority of my time uh in space
and satellite uh operations uh while I was in the Air Force for 23
years. But, uh, yeah, it was a wonderful career, amazing
experiences, incredible responsibility, absolutely loved what I was
doing uh with uh defense, space and satellite operations, space
launch. Um I I really spent the majority of my career across the
the space mission areas. Um but Top Gun absolutely wonderful,
wonderful experiences and memories uh from my time in the Air
Force. Um and you know, I'm now super happy to be a part of the
Microsoft team. Uh every once in a while I do get a little
nostalgic uh Top Gun, you know, I don't know, maybe there were some
tears flowing here and there, possibly nostalgia, possibly the
goofiness of some of the scenes. Um but yeah.
Oh, that's amazing. So, Lynn, tell me um how did you end up in the
military in the first place? Was that a calling that you had um you
when you embarked on your career or did it happen almost by
accident?
Um possibly. possibly a bit by accident. I mean, I was in I grew up
in California and uh you know, the schools there, the high schools
did a pretty good job of keeping recruiters out of the schools.
It's pretty
liberal state and there wasn't uh at least where I grew up, there
wasn't a a militant military presence. Uh I didn't have family in
the military. My dad served in the army for four years during the
Korean um during the on more, but he went to Korea. Um, but it
really wasn't, you know, a part of the family. I didn't have a lot
of exposure to it. Um, I did have a boyfriend in college who got
into some financial trouble and instead of declaring bankruptcy
went off to join the army. Uh, at least that's how my college brain
recalls the scenario. So, he joined the army and drove tanks. And
this was, you know, back pre- email days. Um, but I would get these
letters about what he was doing, the missions, um, all of the
camaraderie, the people he was meeting,
um, all of the responsibility he was given. And I was looking
forward to the letters to hear about what he was doing in the army
more than I was looking forward to actually hearing from him.
Typical college boyfriend experiences. Right. I I could not wait to
hear what he was doing and it just sounded like such an amazing
experience
and uh you know I was studying business in university. Um the job
market was a bit down. There wasn't anything that really drew me in
um in the you know in industry.
Um but I was really getting wrapped into these stories of um
military the military experience. And so I went and spoke with a
recruiter. Uh and uh I you know I think the Navy had been calling
you know the recruiters call the the um call the homes and you know
get in touch um when they you know know that you're getting to the
age of considering and I think I had gotten calls from the Army
recruiter. I'd gotten calls from the Navy recruiter. You know maybe
if I would have known about Tom Gunn I would have called the Navy
recruiter back but um
uh I knew I probably wasn't a Marine. Uh and uh as you know,
incredibly impressive bunch there. Um but, uh I thought, well, why
isn't the Air Force calling me? So, I went and got in touch with an
Air Force recruiter and uh I've got to give it to the recruiter. Um
you know, they can be a bit, oh, right, sign the dotted line.
Um
but uh he really spent some time with me and and talked through
like what do you want to do and and honestly at the time I didn't
know what I wanted to do. I knew I just wanted to be a part of um
this military experience and was super interested in the air
becoming increasingly interested in the air force u with what I was
finding out. And so I told him I'm going to go to I'm going to go
to university uh or finish university and I'm going to join the air
force. And uh you know he kind of talked me through the whole thing
and uh and he said look I think you should look at um you know
taking the path of the the officer training. And so he put me in
touch with uh it's called reserve officer training corps that they
have in many of the universities in the US. He put and so he put me
in touch with the university's ROC um officer training program and
uh as they say the rest is a bit of history.
Well it's such an interesting story and I I do wonder I've spent a
little bit of time recently with our defense team and also with the
a team um in the US who are responsible for um reskilling and
supporting military veterans into technology roles. So as I've
started spending a lot more time with ADF um uh veterans and it is
such an intriguing area to to have worked in. You can certainly see
some of the qualities and experiences that you come out of that um
industry with very very compelling um kind of experience. But tell
me What was it that kind of changed your what what was what was the
move from your military career into a career now with Microsoft?
How did how did that happen?
So I, you know, as I mentioned, I um was in the US Air Force for 23
years. I um had gotten to the rank of colonel. Had some amazing
experiences leading up to that point. um oper in operations in
command. I I really valued the command positions um and uh in
command you're leading uh organizations that um where you have very
specific responsibilities for the organization as a commander and
and the people in the unit.
Uh and I really treasured those experiences um and gained, you
know, so much um so many valuable lessons learned in those um
having those responsibilities as a commander. Uh um you know, but I
I got to a point where you know, you you make these massive
decisions over career and you know, where you want things to go and
you look at things professionally and personally. And I really I I
spent two years working through the decision to to retire
um because I absolutely loved what I was doing. Um but I really had
to evaluate where um I wanted to take some things in in my life and
how I wanted to balance things again you know professionally and
personally.
I was also really interested to explore what was in industry and
and look at you know the path beyond the military.
So um you know after two years of of thinking through this you know
you know when you know uh and in all those big life decisions. Uh
you you know we all work through them in in different ways. Um but
ultimately you know when you know and it it got really clear. I was
like yep this is the time.
And um you know I absolutely love um being a part of the space
industry
um you know in defense and now in um commercial industry. So I knew
that I wanted to continue on um being a part of the the space.
industry and contributing to this amazing uh community of um nerdy
space uh experts uh and all the the different skills and
personalities that come together in this really awesome industry.
Um so I was just kind of you know exploring I knew it was time to
move from um from the military and I was thinking about the next
steps and um just kind of chewing on how I wanted to contribute
what was important in terms of values and um you know my priorities
for what I wanted to kind of pursue next. So I spent some time
really kind of thinking through and evaluating that. Um meanwhile
uh a very good friend of mine who is in the Australian Air Force uh
said, "Hey um do you know Pam Melroy?" And I said, "Well, she's an
astronaut. I don't know her. I'd love to know her." Uh He said, "I
think you know I know her really well. I'm going to introduce you.
I think I think you should you two should meet." She was really
instrumental in the Australian space industry. Um I had done a bit
of independent contracting consulting work um as I um was leaving
the military. And in that consulting work, I was uh uh supporting a
business that wanted to um start in the space industry, start a
branch of their business in the space industry. in Australia. So it
kind of evolved out of that and this discussion he said you know I
think you should you should meet Pam Melroy. She was really
instrumental instrumental in the Australian space and she was like
gosh I'd love to meet with her. So I was connected to um to Pam uh
she's in Washington got together for coffee and in that discussion
um you know here's to the you know the value of networks. Um you
know I've kind of learned over and over my the the value of of
networks and and showing up as a as a good network um if you will
and being a good good uh supporter of of networks for others.
Um but uh I showed up to the um coffee meeting with with Pam and
had a really interesting discussion about the industry, you know,
different mission areas and uh she said, "Hey, give me, you know,
send me a resume. And at that time, you know, I was just departed
the the military and I had a glossy version of my resume in my
purse at all times. Nice.
So, I said, "Yeah, sure." Right. Always be prepared. Um, and so I,
you know, whipped this uh resume out of my purse and she's like,
"Okay, that's uh send it to me electronically." I was like, "Okay."
So, uh, you know, uh, Yeah. So she was um had worked with our CTO
uh who stood up the Azure space business in Microsoft. Uh she had
worked with him in a previous role in DARPA and so you know he was
building out the team and um I was connected to him and that's um
where that took place and it was just you know when she said
Microsoft I was like wow Microsoft that had not crossed my mind. Uh
just hadn't crossed my mind because I was so focused on kind of you
know defense contract roles um kind of standard roles that you know
I was um familiar with from being in the military and but I was
super intrigued by the Microsoft opportunity and then when I heard
Microsoft was um building out new business in in space um one it
completely made sense to me immediately when you think about it in
terms of what Microsoft does in the way of compute and connectivity
and big data. I just thought, "Yeah, absolutely. That makes sense."
And holy smokes, can I be a part of this? Uh so, um yeah, so you
know, through this, you know, this connection, uh through a good
friend and and his network, it it opened up this completely new
opportunity. It opened this door that I never would have
considered. Uh and so that is what led me into Microsoft and um you
know as I as I started to research the company um when I discovered
this this opportunity, I was just like immediately and increasingly
completely jing with the values of the company and I dug into
um all sorts of course, you know, correspondents online and
articles from Satia and just got a sense started getting a sense of
the culture of the company. Um, you know, prior to getting set up
with interviews and I just thought, "Oh, wow. This, you know, super
impressed with um what I was learning about the culture and values
of Microsoft." And um, you know, lo and behold, it's all true.
Yeah. And it's such an important element of um of being satisfied
and fulfilled. And you know, I wonder if it's especially so for
people coming out of the military because that sense of purpose is
is so ingrained from a military experience that you really want to
I can imagine want to align yourself to an organization that has
similar um values. So Lynn um can you tell me a little bit about
Azure space and and is it as um has has been suggested in the past
sort of irrelevant in that we've got so many PL problems on planet
Earth. What the heck are we doing in space anyway? Or or do you see
it very valid and relevant to solving some of those problems?
Let's see. I can I'll start with your the second part of the the
question first and then go back to what we're doing in Azure space.
It is absolutely relevant. Space technology is absolutely relevant
to what we're doing right here on Earth. Um there's so many
different applications of space technology. We use space every day
whether we realize it or not. From some of the more obvious things
like GPS in my phone that helps me get anywhere anywhere these
days. Um feel like I can't even walk up the street without having
you know my uh maps app on. But uh to some of the more, you know,
critical applications of space technology in the way of
communication and applications of spaceorn data, of satellite
imagery and being able to get uh you know, not only a broad uh
geographic view for whatever business or operational use case uh
you know, so applying space technology to applications right here
on Earth is it's something that we we already do and may not even
realize. But it's also incredibly essential whether it's um
spacebor data, geospatial satellite imagery to make determinations
about environmental decisions, sustainability decisions, business
decisions, um and being able to make that at large scale and and
make that that rapid um those rapid decisions.
So I mean it's it's very much space technology is very applicable
to right right here right now right on Earth. I know you know um
there's a lot of discussion about um space exploration
and um going back to the moon and going to Mars and that is all
also um incredibly important um exploration and research and um you
know expanding our our knowledge of of space and human um you
know
almost
compatibility or or or looking beyond I know that Elon Musk is
obviously looking for another planet I think is is that is he
coming up with a plan B or is it more just setting a really
ambitious goal to aim for just as the moon was ambitious all that
all those many years ago?
Well, I don't know really what Elon Musk is thinking and if I did
um that would that would be pretty cool.
But I think that um I think it's a really ambitious goal and I
think that you know again it it really pushes the the limits uh to
um help us think about our place in in space. Um
and right you know I think the thing that I want to point out in in
this is there there has been and there will continue to be many
many advancements in technology in research across a number of
different areas uh that will help us here on earth today and into
the future. I mean there's medical exploration and discoveries that
are taking place focused on uh how humans thrive and survive in
space and that is affecting us you know our knowledge of we live
and and thrive here on Earth today. I'll just take a quick example.
There's a professor at an Australian university here that's doing
uh quite a bit of work on uh researching cancer and how cancer
reacts in space in zero gravity and um you know just very short on
his his research um but is discovering that um you know cancer
reaction to zero cancer cells reaction to zero gravity is that they
begin to degrade very rapidly, dissipate and degrade very rapidly.
So, we've seen this over time, just different technology
advancements and research that can benefit here on Earth.
Yeah, it's such an incredible area and and it's it's almost as if
some of these things almost have an accidental benefit as well um
to to advancing some of these some of the biggest challenges we
face. And, you know, we spoke last week about um some of the
sustainability things that Microsoft is doing at a global level and
other companies as well. But um I do wonder if space and some of
the work that you're doing in in the technology space space um will
have a big impact on some of the on tackling some of the world's
biggest environmental um challenges as well. Just purely from the
perspective of having a holistic image, a holistic perspective on
what's happening on the planet. Yeah, absolutely. Again, whether
it's from um a spaceborn data perspective, uh using earth
observation, geospatial data, um to understand the environment
better and to watch change over time, uh whether it's, you know,
degraded environments and understanding, um you know, how that's
taking place that we can also look at it from an analytical
perspective and understand where things may be headed. Um, you
know, we've got incredibly powerful um data and AI capabilities
that we can use to um take this data and under you know do
predictive analytics whether it's from a sustainability
environmental perspective or other you know business
application
um you know we are from an Azure space perspective uh developing uh
technology around um four functional areas which are global
connectivity
geospatial analytics, Azure and space which is how do we take this
incredible compute and advanced analytics capabilities out to
onorbit platforms and then emulation and synthetics. Um this is how
do we take uh we've got incredibly powerful gaming technology at
Microsoft and emulation capabilities uh and we are um taking that
and the ability to create synthetic data and bringing that together
uh to create almost um a kind of a digital twin uh from a space
perspective.
Incredible. Um god.
Yeah.
Experience almost like a like through augmented reality as well. Is
that is that or is it more from the data perspective?
Yeah. So uh you know more from a a a data perspective. Uh we're
taking payload satellite payload data in real time and creating it
uh into an atscale emulation environment um so that you can uh
almost envision an entire satellite constellation um and be able to
apply analytics in that environment at scale.
Um but you can absolutely apply augmented reality uh to to these um
to these scenarios. as well. So, it really kind of
So, I may end up on the moon by the sound of it.
Well, one way or another, Lynn, I can see myself on the moon.
It may not be real.
Well, we've got some really neat uh use cases underway that are
taking place on the International Space Station.
Yeah. So, we uh have been working in partnership with HP and with
NASA to run a number of uh use cases with Azure loaded on HP's uh
spaceborn computer
and we've been running some analytics uh advanced analytics use
cases um for example we recently just did a use case around using
computer vision with uh astronaut gloves and so what used to happen
is astronauts would take hundreds of pictures of of their of their
gloves which are an essential part of their their equipment
and they'd send this information back to Earth and then it would
get analyzed um by people to understand okay do we have wear you
know you know too much wear on the glove is there a potential you
know to um you know for the integrity of the glove to be
compromised um all of that takes time you've got incredibly slow
data rates you know going from the international space station back
to Earth. Um, we looked at how can we take a picture of the glove,
take computer vision, run models to detect what, you know, what
what a, you know, I guess a healthy glove looks like, where what
wear, um, is excessive, what's, you know, it would just it it's
it's allowed us to rapidly characterize um, astronauts equipment
and they can um, get a sense of where there might be issues in
nearer real time and do that on board the the ISS. Um, so I think
it's a really interesting example of using uh compute
and using advanced analytics to push decisions out to to the edge.
I mean, it's what we currently do from a terrestrial perspective.
Uh, when you think about Azure edge capabilities and taking compute
and analytics to the terrestrial edge. Now we're taking that out to
uh to the ultimate edge and taking that out to space. I mean really
this is about taking connectivity, compute and uh data and AI to to
wherever it's needed and now including space
and it's empowering the people for whom these decisions are going
to be the most significant as well. So the astronauts can can be in
control of their own equipment with information like that. which um
I can imagine that use case is just one of probably millions that
could be used to to do that. That's incredible, Lynn. It's, you
know, I'm listening and feeling mildly annoyed because I'm sure you
have the coolest job at Microsoft. Um and uh and I know that you've
been building up a team of incredible talented people in the
country. But I guess where we got connected was all the way um
probably about a year ago and and we were talking about some of the
challenges that you were finding in building your team of Top Gun
um Azure space people here in Australia in particular in South
Australia which is where I am based but um maybe you could just
reflect quickly about some of the challenges you found in in
building your team because I know you're you're looking at it from
a couple of different angles uh diversity being one of them as
well.
Yeah, absolutely. So I uh arrived in Australia let's see February
of last year uh and uh you know with the aim to build out the
business here, build the team, build the strategy uh really you
know bring Azure space um to Australia and and yeah bring it to
life.
And uh you know first things first I um I think I wrote the
strategy on the plane ride over and in quarantine in the Sydney
hotel. Um I had already been thinking I already been watching the
industry here and and um engaged uh a bit from the US, but that
that proved challenging with time zones and
yeah
and just really kind of the the opportunity and the amount of work
there was to do. So um I was fortunate enough to be able to move
here uh last year and um that's a bit of a story in it in its
own.
Maybe a separate podcast another time when that one.
It was the Vegemite, wasn't it?
It was the Veimite. The Veimite Jeremy here. Absolutely. Um
tolerable with lots of butter. Uh so um yeah, so arrived here in
February, you know, I had uh set set the strategy um had been
watching the industry for quite some time. Uh knew what, you know,
we were doing from a a technology engineering perspective in Azure
space and um where I saw opportunities to partner uh and um and
help enable the Australian um space community here.
Uh but you know, first things first, I was to build out the team
and uh so you know, incredible talent in in the industry here. Uh
it's also a growing uh the Australian space industry is also a
growing industry and continuing to evolve and it's it's rapidly
evolving and it's been amazing to watch that rapid evolution. And
like I said, there is absolutely incredible talent here in in the
industry. And so I went out to build the team and you know, I saw
right from the start it was, you know, incredibly competitive. It
it was I mean, the pool is expanding, but it it was it was a pretty
small um talent pool,
right?
U if if you're looking for specific experiences And I I really kept
a broad perspective on um skill sets and experience and and what a
person could potentially bring to to our team. Um but uh you know
it it was a you know and as the industry is growing here of course
many people are looking for for talent. So um it it was a bit
competitive. Um but then I started looking at uh um diverse
candidates and ensuring that I was looking at um you know all
options for people to bring um talents and expertise uh into the
picture as I was hiring the team and you know as I was looking for
uh diverse candidates uh the the pool got small real fast um and
you know I spent quite a bit of time looking across the nation
working with our talent acquisition team And uh like I said, it
just the pool got small fast and that really made an impression on
on me um as I was hiring for the team and and kind of made that
discovery. Uh you know, one I had already determined that um we
needed to be a part of the growth of the industry.
Yeah.
And uh and part of that was the talent pool and and So uh you know
I was thinking through how do we how do we support the growth of
this industry and in supporting the growth of the industry
including talent um how do we help build diversity um in this um in
this growing industry.
So that was you know really kind of the the first impression that I
got. Um and I know we had a conversation I shared that observation
with you
and we just kind of continued to evolve that that discussion and uh
um I know you could probably take the the rest of this discussion.
Um I you and I had really kind of this shared passion about
creating opportunities um and pathways for um you know for all
people and including diverse talent into IT into the space
industry.
Um and so that you know conversation just really kind of evolved
from there.
Well, and it's um you know, I think it was the perfect time as well
because we were looking at things that we might do to invest um in
in this particular challenge and um uh spoiler alert I guess in
terms of what we've done. Um so we we've recently had the
opportunity to work with modus um and adeco to bring their um modus
tech academy model to Australia which is like a super quick um
skilling program that supports people to um either recent graduates
or people who are returning to work or looking to pivot from
another industry. Um so it supports them to get job ready skills in
in new um job specific careers. So we looked at data analytics and
we looked at creating a program specifically for women. Um and it's
you know as um as a as we had the opportunity to focus here in
South Australia, which is where the the Australian Space Agency was
based. I I felt very passionate about creating opportunities for
all South Australians to get access to this new industry of space.
Um, and it isn't just necessarily the quintessential um sort of uh
nerds um which I think was the word that you use, Lynn. Um you
know, it's it's going to take lots of people from lots of different
kinds of backgrounds to make the industry um successful and we know
that in workforces that better reflect the societies in which they
operate um are actually more successful anyway. So um yeah I think
this is going to be a bit of an evolving um project in where we
continue to work with the universities here in South Australia but
also nationally and then look at the ways in which we can um
connect women to the opportunities in the space um in the space
industry, but I know that you've also done some really great and
fantastic work in just connecting with women in the IT industry
here in South Australia. Um, and I want to thank you and recognize
you for all that work that you've done in terms of speaking to
young women and girls in schools and speaking to women in the IT
industry, but also that um incredible virtual mentoring session we
did with the Office for Women. Um I I know that um it's a bit of a
a a a side um well it's perhaps it's not a side hustle because it's
part and parcel of your job but it may it's a it's a lot of work
that you're you're doing to address this and you're doing an
incredible job.
Oh ditto Beth um I mean tech the tech start program uh you you
brought that to life. You took our our conversation and identifying
where there was a need and um and really just brought it to life
with the the partners. And it's it's already been, you know, it
takes it it takes every um you know, an issue isn't solved in a
single moment. It it takes many moments of of um you know, kind of
chipping away, if you will. And I know you and I talked about where
do where do we start,
right?
If we're going to help with the
Yeah. If we're going to help with the, you know, building out
diversity in the industry and I know we're looking at the space
industry and and it more broadly like where do you start because
there's a whole pipeline from early years education to university
to career and making sure that there's the right support network um
for diverse people in their career because there are retention
considerations there are you know making sure that people are in um
supported for um their performance in terms of promotions. There
are career changes. I mean there's a whole pipeline. I know you and
I talked about where do we start? Uh
and um you know we wanted to make
we wanted to make an immediate impact and I think that was you know
that was one area that was that we landed on with the tech start
program which was how can we do one thing uh that will have the
potential for immediate impact in the industry and uh and so I
think that that's where we got with with Techart and and it's what
it is you know we've we're creating
yeah really you know practical microcredentiing um certifications
in in areas that are of need in the space industry and um you know
wrapping that with u industry mentoring networking with our
partners from IT consulting and the space industry and it you know
it creates that um you know the microsklling the exposure to the
industry the opportunity to network um it's it's creating that that
pathway and and the opportunity um I mean there's so much value
even in creating a professional industry network uh so you know
know off and running with the the tech start program. I know it'll
it will evolve over time, but I think you know we had a tremendous
response with what was it like over 200 women who applied to the
first cohort.
Yeah.
Yeah. And um just had the first
Yeah.
first graduation and
we we have our next cohort starting again in July. So it'll be
another opportunity to to kind of test what we're doing. But Maybe
if I could close out. I know that you missed the graduation event.
Um and uh I I was um uh so disappointed that you couldn't see, you
know, some of the women get up and talk about their experience, but
there was one particular woman who
um you know is so accomplished and intelligent and has just needed
a little bit of confidence and reconnection with women in a
professional setting. So she took some time off to have her
children. And um and she told me afterwards actually that she was
also um uh she also had um a battle with breast cancer during that
time as well. And so she wrote a note to say that the Tech Start
program has given her a third chance at life after she's, you know,
had her career, had her children, recovered from breast cancer, and
now she's she's landed an internship with um with one of our
partners here. in Australia. And you know, I think one of the
things that we find I personally think with skilling programs is
that sometimes it's just so complex and difficult to know where to
start that people don't start. I think you've got to start by
starting and you know our program is only small at this stage but
we we've started as you know by starting and we're learning as we
go.
Um so you know it's been such an exciting project to work with you
um uh and yes to to bolder things. things for next financial year.
But um if I can just close with a very controversial question and
I'm I'm sure it's it's on the minds of everyone um thinking um
about it. In fact, I have two questions. So I want to know a little
bit more about what you think of Vegomite and then the other
question is will I ever get to meet an alien in my lifetime? Is
there intelligent life out there or even unintelligent life? I'm
happy to I'm happy to meet that too. Oh, which is the harder
question? Um,
I love that. That's
So, let's see. Um, like I said initially, anything can be solved
with a lot of butter. Um, including Vegemite. So, um, my, uh,
stepdaughter introduced me to, um, the the art of Vegemite on
toast,
and I noted that she had used nearly half a stick of butter. And
and there was much discussion over
um really veomite is it or is it just butter with a tiny bit of a
speck of this salty whatever it is.
Goodness, I think is the word you need.
Goodness. It's certainly an acquired taste and I prefer it with
lots of butter.
All right. Well, I'm glad we've settled that one. Now, will I get
to meet an alien then?
Well, um I think you'll have to ask Elon Musk. that question also.
Um,
no, just kidding. Um, I I don't know. Um, I here's how I I view it.
The I mean, you know, I think many of us have probably looked up at
the the sky at night and just wondered and with awe and amazement
and almost just in a way that's hard to process.
And u I've I've actually never gazed up at the night sky so much as
I have in in my time in Australia because if if you haven't viewed
if you haven't viewed the night sky from the southern hemisphere
from Australia just like it's I it blew my mind the first time I
saw it. I was out here for work in Alice Springs about um 15 years
ago and uh the team I was with pulled over in the middle of well I
mean Alice Springs is the middle of nowhere but pulled over in the
middle of nowhere at night and I got out and I they said look at
the sky and I was complet completely blown away, speechless. And so
I routinely go out like Milky Way gazing here.
But um you know, when you think about we're we are one speck in
this massive one speck h hurtling around one star, you know, of how
many I don't even know if it's like trillions or gazillions or
whatever the it is, but you know, we are one of so many in a mass
and expanding universe. It's hard for me to imagine that we are the
only um intelligent or potentially unintelligent life forms in this
amazing universe. So um you know, wouldn't it be cool if if we
could have that contact someday? But uh it's it's it's hard for me
to think that we're the only uh the only ones in this universe that
are um living our best lives. Yeah. Well, I 100% agree and look, we
hold out hope that um you know, perhaps in 10 years we'll be
talking about how um George Lucas had done such a lot of research
to put together Star Wars just as we just as we uh have marveled at
the research for Top Gun. Um and it may be that they are already
here. So on that bombshell, um Lynn, it's just been so lovely to
have the chance and the luxury of this time with you and I hope you
enjoyed the conversation. I hope the listeners have enjoyed the
conversation as well. We're super duper lucky to have Lynn in
Australia, let alone part of our Microsoft family. Um, and she
hasn't left um the Vegemite hasn't driven her away just yet. So,
we're hoping and we will continue to watch with awe and wonder as
you um grow your Azure space team and do this incredible work.
Thank you, Lynn. Thanks, Beth. I I really treasure the time that I
get to work with and and um discuss all these really interesting
opportunities that we have here with you. So, thanks for this
opportunity and um as always, it's a pleasure speaking with
you.
Thank you. Bye, everyone.