Her first lectureship in materials was in the Dept. of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Sydney (1992-1996), where she also took a Masters in Higher Education, which helped to fuel her developing interest in student learning. She was then lecturer in Materials and education development at Imperial College London, then deputy director of the UK Centre for Materials Education at Liverpool University, Liverpool, United Kingdom (2000-2003). She then became the DuPont Canada Chair in Engineering Education at the Faculty of Applied Science at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.