Hey Siri, make your mark: UniSQ PhD student earns RISE Fellowship

A passion for advanced manufacturing and a strong background in engineering leadership have earned University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ) PhD student Siri Rattanaamporn a 2026 RISE Fellowship from the Australian Composites Manufacturing (ACM) CRC.

The competitive RISE Fellowship supports early-career women who demonstrate exceptional potential for future careers in STEM at a management level, providing recipients with valuable professional development, networking and industry engagement opportunities.

“Receiving the RISE Fellowship is something I’m genuinely proud of, particularly after several years working in industry and making the move into research,” Ms Rattanaamporn said.

“Being recognised through RISE feels like a really special milestone in my journey and is a wonderful acknowledgement of that transition into research.

“To me, supporting women in STEM is about making sure everyone has the same opportunities to succeed. We all bring different experiences and perspectives, and that diversity of thinking is incredibly valuable to STEM.”

Ms Rattanaamporn’s research has involved filament winding trials and material testing, contributing to the development of a new manufacturing method for high-performance composites with industry partner Wagners Composite Fibre Technology.

The work has also provided her with valuable experience working alongside researchers and industry stakeholders.

Ms Rattanaamporn’s supervisor, Professor Allan Manalo, said she had demonstrated the technical expertise, leadership and collaborative skills needed to progress into management-level roles in STEM.

“Siri shows exceptional potential for a management-level career in STEM through her strong research and technical capability, industry-aligned engineering practice, and clear, upward career path,” Professor Manalo said.

“She has demonstrated mature engineering judgement through her work on filament winding trials, conducting rigorous material testing and data analysis, while also showing emerging leadership behaviours by coordinating project tasks and supervising undergraduate students.”

Before commencing her PhD, Ms Rattanaamporn worked as a senior research and development engineer at Mitsubishi Motors Thailand, where she led cross-disciplinary engineering projects focused on localisation and value engineering.

She was also the first female engineer in the Powertrain R&D team, gaining leadership experience in a traditionally male-dominated engineering environment.

At UniSQ, she is the chair of the Postgraduate Research Committee at the Institute for Space, Defence and Advanced Technology, supporting collaboration among more than 100 higher degree by research students.

She has also contributed to the wider UniSQ community as a Study Toowoomba ambassador and UniSQ International ambassador.

The RISE Fellowship will also allow Ms Rattanaamporn to build her professional network and deepen her understanding of emerging technologies and industry needs across the advanced composites manufacturing sector.

“I hope the RISE Fellowship will provide an opportunity for me to grow as a researcher and explore new ideas in STEM and advanced manufacturing,” Ms Rattanaamporn said.

“I would like to take what I learn through research beyond the laboratory and explore how it can be applied in industry, helping to strengthen the connection between research and industrial practice, and more importantly inspire more young women in STEM.”