The daughter of "one of the few businesswomen in a small New Zealand town", Shirley Chester graduated in chemistry before going into the food industry. Five years ago, her life was changing so when an old friend rang with a business proposal, the omens looked right for a big career move.
Today Shirley is joint owner of Sydney-based company Neo Vista System Integrators (NVSI), which specialises in custom-built solutions for automated testing and measurement, camera vision and data acquisition. The company’s client list includes big names like Qantas, Bluescope Steel and the CSIRO.
Although new to electrical engineering, Shirley had a good understanding of quality-control systems and experience in product development. This knowledge was invaluable when NVSI decided to improve its income stream. In future, it would not only offer technical project services but also sell a related product. This was EnviroPoint, an environmental monitoring system based on wireless sensor technology.
As a woman who has faced career hurdles in a man’s world of manufacturing, Shirley describes herself as "a huge believer in sharing the information I’ve got".
"Technical information is separate", she says "but anything that helps others grow their business is in the public domain."
True to this philosophy, Shirley regularly listens and gives advice to members of the Women in Manufacturing Network and said she gets pleasure from being part of such a positive group.
An original member of the Network, Shirley enjoys sharing what she’s learned in an unusual career in industry.