Meet Mio, WADSIH’s new Administration Lead
We’re pleased to welcome Mio Angela Gadon to the WADSIH team as our new Administration Lead. Mio is a Perth-based multidisciplinary artist, designer and arts worker originally from the Philippines.
Our biggest news of November was the Excellence in Community Engagement award we shared at the 2025 Engagement Australia Awards alongside partners the Autism Academy for Software Quality Assurance (AASQA), the Curtin Specialist Mentoring Program (CSMP), and the Curtin Autism Research Group (CARG).
Spearheaded by longtime partner Tele Tan, the program ‘Empowering Autistic Talent Through Inclusive Education & Employment Pathways’ took out top honours in the category. We’re always willing to team up with Tele and his team as they transform opportunities for neurodiverse and autistic young people across WA.
The Award was also thanks to industry and community partners the Lyn Beazley Academy, Woodside Energy BHP, and Planit, companies and institutions that share our vision about creating pathways into data, digital and STEM careers for all.
We’re huge supporters of neurodiverse talent at WADSIH, and events and initiatives like the GenAI Bootcamp (also run alongside Tele and the Autism Academy) our partnerships with GosHacktahon, CoderDojo and Coders for Causes give us plenty of opportunity to make a difference.
In fact, November was a big month for all things STEM, AI, data science and opportunities for students, educators and traditionally underrepresented groups across the board.
WADSIH joined longtime partners The Fogarty Foundation at the first ever State of AI in WA Schools Forum, hosted by Fogarty and The Beyond Boundaries Institute, which saw 200 educators, policymakers and industry representatives help shape the future of AI-enabled learning in WA.
Director Alex Jenkins moderated a pivotal Day 1 discussion, exploring how schools in WA are preparing for next-level AI adoption, and on Day 2 he joined The Autism Academy’s Beth Cusack to deliver hands-on use cases of AI in classrooms. Everyone left the event very enthusiastic about how AI will continue to transform WA education.
We were also thrilled to continue our work with Women in Technology WA (WiTWA), who help us champion and celebrate the women, allies and advocates dedicated to making the WA tech ecosystem more inclusive.
Two days of panels and discussions unpacked the challenges, opportunities and roadmap to technology careers for women and girls, and it all culminated in the Awards Gala, which recognised the leaders driving diversity in the field.
We also lent our expertise to a worldwide effort, when the United Nations Association of Australia held the UNAAWA SDG Forum 2025 along with The Curtin University Centre for Applied Ethics.
Along with The Honourable Stephen Dawson MLC, Minister for Regional Development; Ports; Science and Innovation; Medical Research; Kimberley and industry speakers from Microsoft, The WA Department of Premier and Cabinet and Curtin’s Dean of Applied Ethics, Alex was one of the thought leaders exploring how AI will help us meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals around innovation, inclusion and sustainability.
Alex also continued his work as a keynote speaker and presenter at industry events throughout November. He delivered the closing address at Busselton’s AI-Con 2025, a one-day event for business leaders who wanted to cut through the AI hype, learn actionable blueprints, get insights on automation, try hands-on experience in workshops and connect with peers and colleagues.
Alex’s presentation bought the themes of the day together and situated them in the bigger picture of the practical strategies for adopting AI in business safely and effectively.
Alex also got the chance to talk about AI to a public audience when he found himself on breakfast radio, joining 96.9FM’s Lisa and Russell to talk about anything and everything to do with AI, from its role in digital advertising and cybercrime to falling in love with your chatbot.
WADSIH’s experience with Hackathons is sought after across academia and industry, and after creating and running so many that have had such impact across sectors, our Innovation Lead Tim Sondalini is the first port of call for many of our partners when they execute their own.
So when Curtin Computer Science Students Association (ComSSA) held their Regrowth Hackathon, exploring the role of computer science in sustainability, eco-futurism and regeneration, they asked him to become one of the Hackathon mentors for the weekend of the event, and his expertise was received warmly.
We were also excited to support the UWA Artificial Intelligence Club as it kicked of its 2025 Summer AI Agent Projects round, an initiative that will see some very exciting and innovative projects conceived and built in the coming months.
The kick-off event saw the formation of teams and collaborations and project briefings where participants shard their ideas and goals, and we can’t wait to see what emerges from all the brainstorming and creativity at the Finale Showcase event in February 2026.
Finally, after joining Build Club Perth for its 2025 launch, we continue to support the creators and attendees as they experiment and build tomorrow’s AI innovations.
Build Club is a fantastic initiative for informal and inclusive collaboration as we design the chatbots, workflows and search tools we’ll be using in the years to come. Engineers, programmers, those with a great idea or just the curious are always welcome, and WADSIH is excited to be part of it.
We’re pleased to welcome Mio Angela Gadon to the WADSIH team as our new Administration Lead. Mio is a Perth-based multidisciplinary artist, designer and arts worker originally from the Philippines.
Our AI Program Coordinator, Beth Cusack has been recognised for her work delivering inclusive Gen-AI Bootcamps that help autistic young people build practical technology skills, confidence and a sense of belonging. The program recently expanded to Geraldton, where students explored generative AI, robotics, coding and virtual reality through hands-on projects.
WADSIH brings AI learning to life at GoSHackathon Midwest Young innovators in Geraldton had the chance to explore artificial intelligence, robotics and future-focused problem solving when the WA Data Science