My digital career: Kate Patterson

[Image appears of Kate Patterson looking up and then images flash through of Kate talking to the camera, a camera light, various 3-D images on a computer screen, and then Kate talking again]

Kate Patterson: I’m Kate and I bring complex scientific concepts to life. 

[Image changes to show Kate smiling and then the image changes to show a profile view of Kate talking to the camera and text appears: My Digital Career, Kate Patterson]

I didn’t always do this. 

[Image changes to show a facing view of Kate talking to the camera]

So, once upon a time I was a vet. 

[Images flash through of Kate with a labrador dog, Kate with another dog, Kate stitching up a dog, a dog on the operating table and then a facing view of Kate talking to the camera]

I worked with animals and everything and after a while working with cancer in animals it made me want to study oncology. 

[Image changes to show a profile view of Kate talking and then images flash through of Kate working on a computer, text on the computer screen, Kate talking, and Kate writing and drawing diagrams]
 
So, I did a PhD and for that I created all these visualisations to explain my research. 

[Images move through to show a diagram on the computer screen, Kate talking to the camera and Kate showing diagrams on a data screen and the camera zooms in on her and then the screen]

I guess I’d always really been interested in art and design and it was just a natural sort of progression from what I was doing. 

[Image changes to show Kate talking and then images move through of a male looking, Kate talking and pointing to diagrams on a screen, Kate talking, and then a male talking to Kate]

Other people, other scientists really liked them as well and they started asking me to make illustrations for them. 

[Images flash through to show various diagrams on a computer screen and then the image changes to show Kate talking]

So, you know, like Figure 1, Figure 2 in your textbook, well I started designing those. 

[Images flash through of Kate’s hand on a computer mouse, diagrams on the computer screen, and then Kate talking to the camera again]

And that actually turned into a whole new career. 

[Images move through of Kate walking with a colleague, Kate walking through an office, Kate working on the computer, Kate’s hand on the mouse, and then Kate talking to the camera]

First, I was making still images, 

[Images flash through of diagrams on the screen, Kate talking to the camera, a 3D design on a computer screen, Kate and a colleague looking at the design, and then Kate talking]

then that moved into animations and now finally I’m making 3D designs for virtual reality.

[Images flash through of a headset, the image view on the headset screen, Kate talking to the camera, a male wearing the headset, and the view of the cells on the headset screen]

When you put on a headset you are inside a cell 

[Images flash through of Kate standing next to the male wearing the headset, the molecule diagram in the headset screen, a profile and then facing view of Kate talking, and the headset controllers]

and you can see these molecules and you can actually interact with those as well almost like a game. 

[Images flash through of Kate next to the male wearing the headset, the molecules on the headset screen, and then Kate talking to the camera again]

And it really helps people understand biology and disease in a way that’s immersive and it’s really powerful.

[Images flash through of various 3D image views from the headset, the male wearing the headset and Kate looking up, and then Kate talking to the camera]

I never planned on working in VR. 

[Images flash through several times of Kate wearing the headset and holding the controllers, and then Kate talking to the camera]

VR wasn’t really accessible when I was in school but I’m really glad that it came along because it’s really important. 

[Image changes to show Kate talking to the camera and then the image changes to show two males looking up and then the image changes to show Kate and two males looking at a tablet]

The more complicated science gets and the more people want to understand 

[Image changes to show Kate and the two males looking up and then the image changes to show Kate talking to the camera]

the more important it becomes to find new ways and better ways of explaining it. 

[Camera zooms in on Kate talking to the camera]

So, I love it.

[Music plays and the CSIRO logo and text appears: CSIRO digital careers, digitalcareers.csiro.au