Dr Jackie Craig graduated with a PhD in physics from St Andrews University in 1981 and was employed by the UK Ministry of Defence for nine years. In 1990 she emigrated to Australia and began her 26-year science career with the Australian Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG). She has extensive experience in lasers and optics, space-based airborne Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) systems, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, and cyber and electronic warfare systems. She led the science and technology input into Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), geospatial intelligence and space-related Defence projects for ten years, standing up a dedicated branch to conduct research into imaging sensors, digital systems and big data. On becoming Chief of Electronic Warfare and Radar Division she identified and described the convergence of Electronic Warfare (EW) and cyber. She went on to establish and lead the Cyber and Electronic Warfare Division, focused on developing solutions to defeat a wide range of threats. As a Chief of Division Jackie was a member of the Defence Senior Leadership Group for eight years. She has also held numerous senior executive leadership positions within the five-eyes Defence and Intelligence Science & Technology forums, spanning the areas of space, digital systems, autonomous systems, big data, cyber and Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare (ISREW). She was awarded the 2001 Ministers Award in Defence Science for her substantial contribution and influence on imagery ISR systems and has received several awards for scientific leadership from the five-eyes community in the areas of ISR, space, EW and cyber. She was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) in 2016. She was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2020 Queen’s Birthday Honours for “significant service to science and technology research in the defence capability field”.
With so many mountains and rock walls still to climb, Dr Craig retired from DSTG in 2016. She is very active in the ATSE Digital Futures Forum and is an adjunct professor in the College of Science and Engineering at Flinders University working in the area of Electromagnetic Systems and Security.