Today, we’re chatting with Deirdre Walters, Co-founder and Innovation Consultant at Untapped Innovation and Dr Kathryn Jones, Senior Lecturer at the National Software Academy, Cardiff University and Deputy Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion for the School of Computer Science and Informatics.

Deirdre spent over 15 years working for Procter & Gamble in beauty and healthcare R&D, has been a partner at Untapped Innovation for over 9 years, and together with her Untapped partners, is now developing a SAAS and training company called PowerPlay by Untapped. Deirdre is also a Founding Director of STEM Untapped, a non-profit organisation dedicated to retaining girls in STEM by match-making underrepresented students with a diverse range of female role models.

Kathryn has spent the majority of her career working as a commercial software engineer in the telecommunications industry. Having made the move back to Academia, she now teaches at Cardiff University's National Software Academy where she is also Deputy Director of Learning and Teaching for the School of Computer Science and Informatics.

Deirdre and Kathryn discuss how their curiosity and a passion for problem-solving led them to a career in STEM, the power in having a diverse set of skills and how we should foster skills in young people to prepare them for careers that don’t yet exist.