Panel Discussion

Women in Maths Day includes a panel discussion on advice for students at the beginning of their careers. This will take the form of an Ask-Me-Anything (AMA) style session where the audience can ask the panel members any relevant questions.

This panel discussion includes members working in academia and industry who want to share their views on challenges and concerns that you have about your career. Here is a short bio of each of these members.

Dr Shirley Coleman

Sahar Fatemi

  • Data Analyst
    • The Premier League
  • Sahar Fatemi is a data Analyst at The Premier League. She has studied Computing Science at Queen Mary University of London.

Rachel Beddoes

  • Girls’ Participation Coordinator
    • MEI Advanced Maths Support Programme
  • Email:
  • Rachel is the Girls' Participation Coordinator MEI Advanced Maths Support Programme. She studied Maths at Exeter and Bristol Universities and taught mathematics for over 20 years.

Dr Thyla Van Der Merwe

  • Senior Security and Privacy Engineer
  • Email:
  • Thyla is a senior Security and Privacy Engineer at Mozilla in London. She has degrees in Mathematics and Information Security from RHUL, and University of Cape Town, South Africa .

Dr Joy Dinsdale

  • Retired Senior IT Manager
    • Retired from Procter & Gamble, Voluntary mentor at The Girls Network
  • Email:
  • Joy is a retired senior IT manager from Procter & Gamble. She is now a voluntary mentor at The Girls Network. She has studied Physiology at Newcastle University.

Dr Zoya Pourmirza

  • Research Associate
    • Newcastle University
  • Email:
  • Zoya is a Research Associate in the Power System Group, Newcastle University. She has studied IT Eng, Computer Networks, and ICT in Sharif University, Iran, Derby and Manchester Universities.

Dr Maryam Mehrnezhad

  • Research Fellow
    • School of Computing, Newcastle University
  • Email:
  • Maryam is a Research Fellow in the School of Computing, Newcastle University. She has studied Computer Engineering and Computer Sciences in FUM, Iran and Newcastle University.