Meet IEEE CIS Member Mardé Helbig

Meet: Mardé Helbig, Chair of the IEEE CIS Distinguished Lecturers Program sub-committee.

What is your title, and place of work? (or Technical Field of Research)?

I am the Deputy Director of the Griffith Sciences Partnership Office (GSPO) and Senior Lecturer within the School of ICT at Griffith University, Australia. As Deputy Director of the GSPO I facilitate engagement with industry for the whole Sciences group for both academic staff and students, and for both research and teaching activities. My research focuses on using computational intelligence algorithms to solve optimisation problems with multiple goals/objectives, where at least two of the goals are in conflict with one another and the objectives and/or constraints are dynamic. I am also interested in visualising and better understanding the search process of the algorithms and applying these algorithms to real-world problems.

How long have you been a member of CIS and what was the reason you chose to join IEEE CIS?

I have been a member of IEEE CIS for 17 years, joining during my PhD at the recommendation of my supervisor since it provided discount for the IEEE CIS conferences.

What Computational Intelligence Society committee do you serve?

I am currently serving on the Members Activities Committee (MAC) as the chair of the Distinguished Lecturers Program (DLP) sub-committee, and as a member of the Strategy sub-committee. I have previously served as the chair of the Webinars and the Chapters sub-committees of MAC, as a member of the Women in CI sub-committee of MAC, vice-chair of the Mentoring sub-committee of the Technical Activities Committee and as the chair of the South African IEEE CIS Chapter.

What have you learned from your experience and how has it helped you professionally?

I love meeting different people from the Society through serving on these committees. I have learned more about the various activities of the Society, and just how many activities are happening behind the scenes. It has helped me to build my professional network and to grow my leadership skills.

What has been the most fun/rewarding thing about being a volunteer for the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society? What have you enjoyed the most?

The most fun thing is being face-to-face with a wonderful group of people at the committee meetings. The most rewarding thing for me is giving back to Society members and helping the Society to achieve its goals. I enjoy seeing the impact it has – even if it helps one other person in the Society, I am happy!

Tell us something about you that we don't know.

I am a huge fan of rugby (rugby union) and cricket, love scuba diving and write poetry.