An award-winning engineer, business entrepreneur and an advocate for change, Felicity Furey’s tenacious spirit, infectious energy and relentless drive to create a better world inspires students, emerging leaders and their communities to re-engineer what’s possible in the future of education and STEM.

From standing as one of just 12 women in her graduating class of 120 to being named BOSS Magazine’s Young Executive of The Year and ‘Innovative Engineer of The Year’, Felicity has always made it her mission to make the ‘impossible’ possible.

From the classroom to the boardroom, Felicity takes a no holds barred approach to driving change in her industry and creating a world that works for everybody. Her passion for engineering and her lifelong desire to improve diversity and equity across industries led her to found Machinam in 2013 and Power of Engineering in 2012 – two groundbreaking organisations encouraging the next generation to consider careers in STEM through real-world applications and opportunities. 

Felicity’s accolades range from Engineer Australia’s ‘Innovative Engineer of The Year’ award to the Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence. In 2019 she was named as an Engineers Australia Centenary Hero and selected as a Superstar of STEM.

This year alone, Felicity has shared her insights on Young Entrepreneurship, The Future of Work, Millennial Leadership, Diversity in STEM and the importance of reframing ‘failures’ as moments of growth and resilience with over 120,000 people across Australia, Asia and the United States.

In 2020, Felicity is on a mission to reach her goal of 1 million hours of volunteering for STEM schools, with a focus on coaching and training 10,000 emerging leaders to ‘do the impossible’ for themselves, their schools and for their broader communities.

Soon Felicity will take flight as one of the first civilian woman to pilot a military-style jet solo. Her voyage will be shown as part of a new docuseries, airing in 2020.

Awards

• Engineers Australia Centenary Hero 2019
• Superstar of STEM 2019 – 2020, Science and Technology Australia
• Innovative Engineer of 2018, Engineers Australia
• Young Executive of the Year 2016, Australian Financial Review BOSS Magazine
• Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence Winner 2014, QUT
• Young Achiever Award 2013, National Association of Women in Construction
• Finalist Outstanding Alumni Awards 2013, QUT
• Young Social Pioneer 2013, Foundation for Young Australians
• 100 Women of Influence 2012, Australian Financial Review and Westpac

Boards:

Felicity is the Director of four companies

Former Director of the Mathematical Association of Victoria

Quotes:

“Felicity is an inspiration, and a force to be reckoned with. If every school had Felicity speak, we’d upend the dire stats around women in STEM starting tomorrow.”

“I didn’t know engineering could be so creative – Felicity’s shown me that a career in STEM is possible for me.”