NASA cybersecurity expert Dr Kymie Tan returned from the US to her old school, Mater Christi College, Belgrave, recently, sharing with the students how the Good Samaritan values that she received there have guided her career, and urging them not be afraid of failure in life, but to learn from it.
By Debra Vermeer
Kymie, who graduated from the College in 1987, is now the Chief Engineer for Cybersecurity at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and in charge of some of the most complex and sensitive cybersecurity projects in the world.
She said her education at Mater Christi, a Good Samaritan Education school, laid the foundation for her career success, not only academically by encouraging her interest and abilities in STEM subjects, but also personally, by instilling in her the Good Samaritan values that have underpinned her choices along the way.
Speaking at a special assembly during a recent visit to Australia, she spoke of the impact the school had had on her.
“I want to thank Mater Christi from the bottom of my heart,” she said. “I had the best time here, the best education. Mater Christi challenged me to think and see things in a different way. It set me up for life.”
Kymie was born in Malaysia and moved with her family to Melbourne when she was 10 years old. She remembers Mater Christi as a warm and welcoming environment at a time of big change in her life.
Among those who made an impression on her was the principal at that time, Good Samaritan Sister Margaret Keane, who gave her some advice that has stayed with her over the years.
“When I was experiencing some disappointments during my senior years at Mater, Sister Margaret told me, ‘Failure does not define you. It’s how you handle it that speaks to your character’. That message has always stuck with me,” she told the students.
After finishing high school, Kymie studied Computer Science at Melbourne University, completing her undergraduate and honours degrees there, before being fast-forwarded into a PhD. During her honours year, she worked with the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in the relatively new area of cybercrime.
It was during those studies that she was first able to put Sister Margaret’s advice about dealing with failure to good use. “I have failed countless times in my career, and some of those failures have been catastrophic,” she said.
Dr Kymie Tan is an alumna of Mater Christi College, Belgrave. Image: Mater Christi College Belgrave.
She recounted to the Mater Christi students the time during her university studies when she wrote a computer program that took down test systems in the AFP.
She recalled being told that the reason she had failed was because “girls can’t program – they don’t have the mindset” and that she either accept failure in the course or get a boy to write the program for her.
“When that happened, I decided to keep showing up in class every day because I realised that was what Sister Margaret meant. I leant into the failure and became the only woman to graduate from the honours program and complete a PhD in Cybersecurity,” she said.
Kymie’s PhD studies led her to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US, recognised as a leading institution in computer science, where, after graduating with her doctorate, she was on the faculty for some years.
It was expected that the next step in her career path from a top cybersecurity university would be to work for the US’ National Security Agency, but a job offer from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) put paid to that.
“I had always wanted to work at NASA,” she told The Good Oil. “So, when JPL called, I was like, sure. Of course! I would never say no to that.
“There’s a principle or vision that NASA upholds that calls to certain people. It’s about working for humanity, working for the greater good, for the larger picture. And that was very, very attractive to me, particularly given the principles that I grew up with.”
Those principles, which were fostered at Mater Christi, not only included being given the tools to handle failure at a young age, but also the importance of compassion, as articulated in the parable of the Good Samaritan and lived out in the school community.
“When you’re young, you have a sort of superficial feel for compassion and you tend to think of compassion as something weak, like you’re a pushover,” she said. “But the way we discussed it in religious studies showed me it went much deeper.
“I learned that compassion requires a lot of strength, because you have to be able to advocate for someone who is weaker, who may not be able to articulate what their problem is, and you have to fight for them.
“At Mater Christi, the teachers asked us to think carefully about the fact that compassion sometimes means standing up, having a backbone and putting yourself in really uncomfortable situations for someone else.
“I took that very much to heart and the reason I’m in NASA is because NASA has always been about serving humanity; about daring to ask how far we can reach and what we can uncover to deepen our understanding of who we are. It is a mission fuelled not by profit, but by purpose.”
Kymie said her job at JPL is akin to a cat and mouse game, where the cyber adversaries of the US will seek to attack NASA’s activities online and she and her team have to defend and respond. The work becomes particularly intense around the time of a rocket launch, as adversaries can seek to disrupt the mission.
Dr Kymie Tan told students: “We need more girls in STEM.” Image: Mater Christi College, Belgrave.
“Cyber defence is extremely difficult because it’s not like fighting a physical war with guns, it’s fighting a war with your head, defending your ground with computer algorithms instead of guns,” Kymie said. “It is being able to fight a war against the adversary in cyberspace to protect everything that we do for the good of mankind.”
She said those moments when she watches a successful launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida “are very special” and she also finds great joy in mentoring young engineers at JPL to be the cybersecurity experts of the future.
Kymie said her visit to Mater Christi was “profoundly memorable” as she urged the students to follow their dreams, especially in the areas of science, mathematics and technology.
“There’s so much potential in those students and the future is so bright, so it was really touching to be there and to talk with them,” she said. “And also, to help them see that the Technical Sciences belong to them just as much as to anyone else, that these fields are not just for boys, but for all who are curious, capable, and driven to explore.”
She told the students: “We need more girls in STEM.”
“You are all so lucky. You are living on the precipice of the most exciting time for humanity, and you can have an impact and be part of this. No other generation has had this much access to space,” she said.
“The keys to the kingdom lie in Computer Science and Engineering – if you have those skills, you will never be out of a job.
“I encourage you to dare. Have the courage to fail and try again. Be bold, keep pushing, for the greater good of our world and humanity.”
Mater Christi College Deputy Principal, Staff and Students, Shae Mayes said Kymie’s address had a big impact on staff and students. “Our students were fascinated by all that Kymie had to say,” she said.
“Obviously, the high-profile projects and organisations she has worked with and for are awe inspiring. However, more than anything, it was her open, honest and humble approach that really resonated with them.”
Shae said it was wonderful to hear about the impact that Mater Christi had on shaping Kymie’s values and worldview.
“The ability to put failure into perspective and understand its vital role in the journey to success is an invaluable skill,” she said. “This perspective from Kymie really struck a chord, particularly with our Year 12 students, as they approach exams, final results and life beyond secondary school.”
Meanwhile, Sister Margaret, who is now living in retirement, was also delighted to hear of Kymie’s visit back to Mater Christi and of her career achievements.
She said she was deeply touched to hear that her advice on not letting failure define her had resonated so deeply in Kymie’s life.
“It’s wonderful, really marvellous,” she said. “It makes me feel very humble. I was also reminded of how important it is to be careful of what we say to our students. How many times did I discourage a student or colleague? It’s a reminder of what damage words can do as well as our positive words that do good.”
Margaret remembered Kymie as a “good student who would try anything”, especially in the fields of Maths and Science, as well as being a “good and loyal friend and an unselfish person”.
“She thoroughly deserves all she has achieved in reaching the highest level in NASA.”
Mater Christi College continues in the tradition of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan and belongs to the community of 10 schools across Australia called Good Samaritan Education.
