Standing Out After Starting Over

For Dr Humaira Ehsan, winning the Technological Innovation category at the 2026 BHP Women in Resources National Awards this week was a moment she never saw coming.  

That journey has taken her from a computer science graduate in Pakistan to university lecturer and a researcher and PhD student at The University of Queensland, before joining her current role at Hastings Deering.  

Whilst Humaira saw a career in technology, her father saw the challenges of a male-dominated workplace and steered her towards academia. She spent 15 years teaching and researching, while encouraging young women to pursue technology careers.  

Making a new start  

Her commitment to learning brought her to Australia for a PhD at The University of Queensland, while raising two daughters and navigating the challenges faced by many researchers and migrants.  

Inspired by the operational complexity of the resources sector and the role of data in driving better business outcomes, Dr Humaira made the move from academia to industry. As a Muslim, South Asian woman entering a traditionally male-dominated sector, she often found herself having to demonstrate how academic research could deliver operational impact. Joining Hastings Deering as a Data Analyst in Supply Chain marked a pivotal turning point, giving her the opportunity to apply her expertise to real-world challenges and create tangible value through data and analytics. 

Turning data into better decisions  

One of those opportunities led Dr Humaira to develop SCORE, a Supply Chain Order Recommendation Engine designed to help planners make more informed purchasing decisions and identify supply risks earlier. 

SCORE helps planners predict parts demand, identify supply risks early and make better purchasing decisions by bringing together information from multiple systems into a single predictive workflow. The result has been a shift from reactive planning to a more proactive approach across the business.   

SCORE has helped reduce emergency orders by 38 per cent and freight costs by 34 per cent, while improving parts supply across the business.   

The decision-making logic Humaira developed for SCORE attracted strong interest from Caterpillar and fellow dealers, keen to learn more about the approach and its potential application within their own planning environments. By bringing together demand forecasting, supply constraints and stocking strategies, the solution demonstrated a practical and innovative way to support smarter inventory decisions.  

Presenting the award, the judges said Humaira “demonstrates clear value creation and tangible impact through her work, improving how information supports operational decision-making. Her ability to turn innovation into meaningful workplace outcomes set her apart in a highly competitive category.”  

Backing yourself  

Her advice to anyone developing their career in technology, analytics or the resources industry is simple.  

"Stay curious, keep learning. Be persistent. Ask questions. Take chances and don't be discouraged by setbacks or rejection," she says. "Growth rarely happens inside your comfort zone."   

Humaira credits her parents, who believed that their daughter's future "should be limited only by her imagination and not by her circumstances". While opportunities were sometimes scarce, they "chose possibility over limitation and hard work over comfort".  

For Humaira, the recognition is also for others who have taken a different path and questioned whether they belong.  

"This award belongs not just to me, but everyone who has ever taken an unconventional path and wondered if they belong," she says. "Well, take it from me, you do."  

"If my story encourages even one woman, migrant, or career-changer to back themselves, that's incredibly meaningful."