International Women’s Day 2021 – Celebrating our CEO

Elizabeth Karpiel – CEO and Engineer

In March, when we are celebrating International Women’s Day, BlueZone would like to take a moment to celebrate Elizabeth Karpiel (Liz), our CEO. Liz has been CEO for a year but has been part of BlueZone since 2006 when she joined us as an engineer and project manager. She has been an invaluable member of the team, is an inspiration to her colleagues, and proves women can achieve great things with hard work and perseverance.

Liz completed her Engineering degree through the University of Newcastle and is currently studying for her Masters of Business Administration. She has mastered balancing work, study and personal life, including studying for her first degree while being a mother and primary carer. With such big changes happening in the world today, Liz acknowledges that flexibility and recognising everyone has commitments external to their work is key to a strong and engaged team.

While working as the Project Manager for Research and Development for BlueZone (ATSA), Liz managed the team that won the Innovation in Sustainable Engineering Award and an Excellence Award for their SeaUrchin™ Marine Power Generator project, and the team was named the Overall Winner by the Newcastle Division of Engineers Australia in 2012. She is now leading the company as it enters a new stage and focuses on its work with defence and marine remote-operated vehicles.

In addition to her work with BlueZone, Liz is committed to training the next generation of project managers and engineers through mentoring and by teaching through University of Newcastle. When she was completing her first degree, Liz was one of only 3 women in the class, so she is a true advocate for women in STEM. She said, “STEM skills are predicted to be extremely important in the future and women need to be actively encouraged to continue to explore their curiosity to understand the world we live in and to push the boundaries”.

#AheadoftheTide #BlueZone #IWD #InternationalWomensDay2021 #WomenInSTEM #WomenInEngineering #EngineersAustralia #STEM #Engineering #ProjectManagement

Elizabeth Karpiel, CEO of BlueZone Group