Join Samantha Read FRACI GAICD BEng (Hons), recipient of the 2026 Kernot Memorial Medal, one of Australia’s most prestigious engineering honours, as she shares insights from a distinguished career spanning manufacturing, engineering, innovation and public policy.
Having helped shape national conversations on manufacturing capability, sustainability and regulatory reform, Samantha offers a unique perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing Australian industry.
Register now for this special opportunity to hear from one of Australia's leading engineering and industry voices.
Find out more about the Kernot Memorial Medal Oration.
What does it mean to succeed as an engineer?
The true measure of engineering leadership lies in the impact we create: the industries we strengthen, the problems we solve, and the legacy we leave behind.
As Australia navigates the energy transition, rapid technological change and circular economy opportunities, engineers are doing more than merely building what comes next. They are helping shape it.
Drawing on more than three decades of leadership across manufacturing, automotive, chemicals and renewable fuels, Samantha Read will explore how engineering leadership can help Australia turn disruption into opportunity and shape our industrial, economic and environmental future.
Samantha Read is a remarkable non-executive director, business leader and former CEO whose 35-year career has spanned the chemicals, plastics, renewable fuels, automotive and steel sectors.
Recognised for her distinguished leadership at the intersection of industry, engineering and public policy, Samantha has played a significant role in modernising Australia’s industrial chemicals regulation, advancing circular economy policy development, strengthening sovereign manufacturing capability, supply chain resilience, and championing biofuels. She currently serves as Chair of the Advisory Board of the ARC Training Centre for Sustainable and Green Economy Manufacturing, Deputy Chair of The Fair Co, Non-Executive Director of the Battery Stewardship Council, and member of the Federal Government’s Advisory Committee for the Environmental Management of Industrial Chemicals.
Having recently left Chemistry Australia where she was CEO for 12 years, Samantha continues her passion of supporting the next generation of Australian industry leaders as a Mentor with Monash Business School’s Creative Destruction Lab program. Her contributions have been recognised through a Monash University Distinguished Alumni (Engineering) Award and Fellowship of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute.
