STEM Profile: Madhu Bhaskaran

Madhu Bhaskaran

Electronics engineer, researcher and innovator

Distinguished Professor Madhu Bhaskaran co-leads Women in STEMM Australia and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. She co-leads the Functional Materials and Microsystems Research Group at RMIT University which she established in 2010.

City/town: Melbourne

State: VIC

STEMM sectors: Engineering, Research, Technology

Open to being contacted about the following volunteer roles: Mentoring others, Speaking at professional events/panels

Guiding principle: "When it rains, look for rainbows and when it is dark, look for stars" - this keeps me optimistic.

Areas of expertise: wearables, biosensors, medtech

Contact Madhu Bhaskaran

Q&A

How do you navigate moments of doubt or failure in high-stakes or highly technical environments?

I have learnt collaboration and working with strong teams is key – challenges become far easier to navigate when one has trusted relationships built on mutual respect. I also have strong impostor syndrome and so looking at my CV and reassuring myself from time to time of my abilities is helpful!

What change, big or small, would you most like to see in the culture of STEMM fields over the next decade?

I would love to see silos being broken and more cross disciplinary and cross sector collaborations emerging. This is where there is largest scope for innovation and breakthroughs.

What is the thing you enjoy most about your role?

I wear many hats – be it leading my own research group, contributing expertise to national research centres/hubs, heading up a cutting edge facility, and chipping away to improve equity and diversity in STEMM. I genuinely enjoy having many roles to play and staying optimistic across them.

What drew you to your field in the first place?

I grew up at a time when phones became smaller and yet more functional – corded to cordless to mobile. How they continued to be miniaturised fascinated me and drew me to becoming an engineer focussing on microelectronics. I do not enjoy coding and so, it was always hardware over software!