Member of the Order of Australia (AM)

Published: Thursday, 10 October 2019

To my great surprise, I was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) this year, announced on the Queen’s Birthday Weekend. This means I now get to write my name as "Marita Cheng AM".  Most people who get this recognition are over 40 years older than me - the person awarded after me was 88 years old!

In the Australian honours system, appointments to the Order of Australia confer the highest recognition for outstanding achievement and service - mine was “for significant service to science and technology, particularly to robotics.” Consideration of a nomination can take between 18 months and two years - so I would have been nominated in 2017!

Over the past 11 years, I’ve been very lucky to have worked with amazing people across my teams at Robogals, Aubot, Aipoly, and Saxton to impact the lives of millions of people around the world. Thank you to you all - I couldn't have done this without you.

Growing up in regional Far North Queensland, I didn’t know much about the Order of Australia recognition at all, but I’m very honored to be a part of this group now and will wear my badge proudly.

I try to continuously challenge myself and put myself in situations where I am enthusiastically learning and growing.

I don’t know who nominated me - I found out when I got it - so it was an unexpected surprise and a lovely acknowledgment of all the work that I’ve done so far. It definitely inspires me to continue to be courageous and bold going forwards!

The Australian wrote more about my inclusion in the Order of Australia here:  https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/changing-the-world-with-robots/news-story/89610fe46c0cbefa6b4a8c64b6d92bbe

These awards were designed “to recognise Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or meritorious service.” There are many people I respect and admire who have received the post-nominal in the past, and who are receiving their post-nominal alongside me.  You can see the full list of my fellow Queen's Birthday Weekend awardees here:  https://www.theage.com.au/national/extraordinary-australians-honoured-in-annual-queen-s-birthday-ceremonies-20190606-p51v6q.html?fbclid=IwAR1Js-kFAp34JIYT7mpUhXhMaZkLlxJdjwT40_0_qW1zzocpcUkc-Hhwn90

On 17 September 2019, the Governor of Victoria presented me with the Member of the Order of Australia (AM) medal at Government House in Victoria.

About Me

Marita ChengForbes named me a world's top 50 woman in tech & 30 Under 30. I founded Robogals and Aipoly and was Young Australian of the Year 2012. Currently working on robotics company Aubot. I'm the youngest Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and I give speeches around the world.

I tweet @maritacheng and I'm on Facebook.

Subscribe

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Random Articles

  • Phoenix, Arizona

    I love exploring new cities! So I was super thrilled to visit Phoenix in Arizona, and speak at ASQ’s Lean and Six Sigma Conference as their opening...

  • The Project Woman to Watch

    The Project called me a “Woman to Watch” and shot this short video.  It contains footage of a child going to school remotely using Teleport,...

  • NBN STEMpreneur

    The NBN Stempreneur Initiative is a virtual learning program for kids in eight regional schools. It shows young people the breadth of opportunities...

  • How the community keeps you going

    When I first started Robogals, the first thing I did was tell people about my vision and ask that they sign on to join. From that, I got a team of 3...

  • Unless people you’re working with support you, you are going to fail

    Who are the guys that you are going to have pizza with when you successfully raise capital? Who are the guys that are going to inspire you? Who are...

  • Jevaroo - pouring a glass of water

    Here is our 8-degree-of-freedom robotic arm Jevaroo, pouring a glass of water and then moving around to show its range of movements!

  • No amount of hoping and praying can substitute hard work

    Want to do something but you don't feel like it? Want to start a company but you feel the first step is too high and too hard?  Want to get fit but...

  • Burnout

    I think that burnout happens when you set a goal, you work really, really hard to achieve the goal, and then the deadline comes and you haven’t...

  • 1 day = 2

    When I was planning the first UK SINE, for about a month, I split each day into two.  I would get up in the morning, and do all the actions needed to...

  • Fetch Robotics

    I visited Fetch Robotics as part of a field trip for a Stanford course I took. Fetch Robotics sold to Zebra Technologies for $290 million in 2021....