This International Women's Day Dr Sushmita Ruj, an expert in Cryptography and working mum, reflects on the importance of role models for women in STEM.
For Sushmita Ruj, engineering is in her blood. Growing up in Durgapur, a small industrial city in India’s east, the profession was everywhere she looked.
“It seemed quite obvious to me,” she says. “My father was a metallurgy engineer. Many people around me were engineers, and their children were also engineers.”
But it was another influence – her mother - that sent the Associate Professor down her career path.
As International Women’s Day focuses on gender equality and the need to “Accelerate Action” to speed up the rate of progress worldwide, Ruj says there will always be space for more female role models in engineering.
A botanist and college lecturer, Ruj’s mother would regularly bring home science books and magazines, and it was here that Ruj began to understand the potential of computers.
"At that time, I'd never seen a computer except in magazines,” she says.
"Maybe that was what was alluring. I hadn't seen or known exactly what it looked like, but I knew what it could possibly do.
“Looking back, I feel my mother’s role was quite crucial. Seeing my mother take so much interest in nurturing her students, I think deep down, it was there in me.”
It’s taken Ruj to the School of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of NSW, and the Faculty of Engineering Lead for the Institute for Cyber Security (IFCYBER).
“I didn’t know at the time that I would be doing research or working at a university, but now I think that was one of the reasons – seeing my mother be so devoted to her work had something to do with me taking this career path,” Ruj says.
After graduating from Bengal Engineering College in 2004 with a degree in computer science, Ruj completed her PhD from the Indian Statistical Institute in 2010. After post-doctoral research in Canada and Sweden, she moved to Australia to pursue a job at the CSIRO, before taking on a role at UNSW in 2022.
She’s now researching cryptography, with a key focus on ensuring internet transactions are safe.
Consider the recent Optus breach or Medibank hacks.
There was a lot of personal identifiable information, and if that information is in the clear, it can be very easy to take, sell on the dark web, and commit identity theft.
“But if this information is encrypted in a way that the attackers don't have access to the keys, then even if the data server is breached, you don't get meaningful information from it,” Associate Professor Ruj says.
As a field of study, cryptology has two components: cryptography - the art and science of writing secretly; and cryptanalysis - trying to make sense of the encrypted text.
The field has been made “cool” in recent times through Hollywood and best-selling books.
The film The Imitation Game tells the story of Alan Turing, who decrypted German intelligence messages for British government during World War II, while Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon book series, including The Da Vinci Code, introduced millions to the field of cryptology. Sherlock Holmes’s The adventures of the Dancing Men is one of the best known books where Holmes uses Cryptanalysis to solve a case.
Associate Professor Ruj admits she too got swept up in the Langdon series, and helped harness her passion and interest in cryptology. But it was the beautiful and elegant mathematics that is the foundation of Cryptography that really attracted her to this area.
“It’s really exciting,” she says.
"Cryptology is actually a very old area.
“Thousands of years ago, people tried to communicate secretly for various reasons. One reason was because there were wars and attacks, and everyone wanted to ensure that what they were communicating with trusted people was secure and no one else could eavesdrop on the message or information.
“There are references to Julius Caesar using a cipher to communicate privately.
“This hasn’t really changed - think of logging in when you use your user ID and password - it's about authenticating yourself, and that's also part of cryptography.”
She recommends reading Simon Singh’s popular science book “The Code Book” to anyone who is interested to know more about Cryptography.
As a woman in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) research, Ruj says the challenge for women continues today.
Despite having a smooth career progression and several opportunities around the world, she says highlighting the need to progress gender equality is important work.
“I never felt that being a woman made me stand out or was a disadvantage,” Ruj says.
“But when my child was born, I realised for the first time that there are times you must slow down at times and set your priorities.
“I think this was one of the turning points when I first realised that, yeah, I'm a woman, and there are things which might need more attention. My role as a mentor to my students and mother of a young kid reinforce each other. I have been lucky that to have a supportive family and workplace which has kept me going, but I have seen women who had to prioritise different things in their life - taking on more responsibilities in the family - which took time off their careers and stunted what they wanted to achieve.
Many of the students she has spoken to wish there were more role models in STEM to look up to.
Ruj said mentors played a key role in supporting academics and giving advice when needed.
“Within UNSW, especially in the School of Computer Science and the Faculty of Engineering, we have good mentoring programs.
“When I joined in 2022, even after so many years in academia, I still wanted advice from people who had worked at UNSW. I look forward to talking to mentors in an informal setting - they have been really helpful.”