2026 SCoE Advisory Committee

Committee Role

STEM Centre of Excellence education programs are co-created with schools, industry and community stakeholders, whose input elevates our students’ confidence, capacity, opportunity, and creativity in STEM. The 2025 SCoE Advisory Committee consists of a dynamic group of passionate and talented professionals who strongly believe that our programs should reflect the interests and needs of the communities we work with and integrate the skills that students need for a rapidly changing world. To achieve this, we rely on the trusted guidance of academics, educators, industry partners and the cultural sector to shape the future direction of education content and industry pathway programs, providing diverse perspectives and networks.

Committee Members

Learn more about the group of people who will be providing advice and working with us.

**Andrew Arney**
Executive Principal
Glenroy College
Andrew began his career as an Instrumental Music teacher in the State, Catholic and Independent systems while studying Saxophone at the Conservatorium of music.
He returned to do his teaching degree in 2002, beginning his career as a classroom music and drama teacher at Gladstone Park Secondary College. In his 14 years at Gladstone Park, Andrew built the music program from 4 students to 280, overseeing what became a thriving music and drama Department. Additionally, he  took on roles in Performance and Development, Data and Assessment, Student Leadership, Domain Leadership and Senior Sub-School Leader.
After his appointment as Assistant Principal of Curriculum Innovation at Melbourne Girls College in 2016, he was given the privilege of taking on the role of Acting Principal of the college during the second year of Covid, guiding a weary community through the toughest of times. In 2022 he was seconded to the role of Acting Principal at Macleod College, a specialist music academy in the northern suburbs, before being appointed to his current role of Executive Principal at Glenroy College.

**Matt Coffey**
Program Manager
Deadly Science
Matt is a proud Wiradjuri man with a strong passion for education and science engagement.
He brings experience in designing and delivering innovative educational programs for secondary students, including his previous work at Science Gallery Melbourne at the University of Melbourne.
Currently, Matt manages the WEHI DeadlyScience Pathways Program, a joint initiative between WEHI and DeadlyScience, where he works across both organisations to coordinate opportunities that support and inspire the next generation of First Nations scientists.

**Kathryn Coleman**
*Associate Professor,* *Visual Arts and Design Education at the Faculty of Education, The University of Melbourne.*
Associate Professor Kathryn Coleman, PhD is an artist-researcher-teacher. Her research explores creative practices, practices of identity, knowledge as practice, and digital practices in post-digital and AI-mediated spaces.
As co-director of SWISP Lab and President of Art Education Australia, Kathryn leads interdisciplinary, art-based inquiries into Land-technology-human relations and small data storying with young people, often in collaboration with cultural institutions like Science Gallery International. Her praxis as an a/r/tographer is grounded in the belief that artist-researcher-teachers explore knowing as a living inquiry; chasing ideas and running with concepts until they open new spaces of (im)possibility.
With a commitment to truth, justice, equity, and care, Kate works across sectors to reimagine visual arts and design education futures that promote creative pedagogies to transform curriculum through relational, place-based, and speculative approaches.

Lauren Gaylard
Middle Years Campus Principal Niddrie & East Keilor Campuses Essendon Keilor College

Lauren is the Middle Years Campus Principal at Essendon Keilor College, overseeing the educational experience for students from Years 7-9 across two campuses of the school.

Essendon Keilor College prides themselves on their ability to form strong community partnerships with a range of organisations including Science Gallery/SCoE, leveraging these to extend and enhance learning for our students. For Lauren, Middle Years education is all about exploring opportunities for students to find their passions both inside and outside of the classroom that will set them up on a pathway of future success.

Lauren has a passion for Teaching & Learning as well as Curriculum Development, holding leadership positions in these areas prior to moving into her current principal role.

Lauren is a trained Physical Education and Science teacher who loved teaching through an experiential model where learning was filled with hands on experiences that students could readily connect to.

Ellen Liu

Ellen Liu is a strategic partnerships professional working at the intersection of STEM research, industry, and innovation. She currently serves as a Partnerships Officer, Innovation Precincts at the University of Melbourne, where she supports large-scale collaborations and projects across precincts, industry, and government, with a focus on translating scientific capability into real-world impact.

With a background in neuroscience and international business, Ellen brings both scientific literacy and commercial insight to her work. She has led and supported major partnership initiatives, precinct strategy development, and ecosystem engagement, while remaining deeply committed to inclusive, student-centred pathways into STEM. Her career reflects a belief that science thrives when it is collaborative, accessible, and embedded in society.

Beyond her professional work, Ellen is an Australian national fencing representative and advocate for leadership, equity, and creative problem-solving across education and sport. She is passionate about fostering opportunities where curiosity, culture, and science intersect to inspire the next generation of thinkers and changemakers.