WOMEN IN MINING
FROM KALAHANDI TO MELBOURNE:
CHASING A DREAM Making dreams a reality takes work; something that CSIRO’s Dr Suneeti Purohit knows more than most. Here, Dr Purohit shares the barriers she overcame as she followed her ambitions halfway around the world to where she is now – working for Australia’s national science organisation and the winner of the 2023 Exceptional Woman in Victorian Resources award.
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hen asked to pinpoint where her interest in science came from, Dr Purohit can trace back to a conversation she had when she was nine years old. “One morning I was looking at my reflection in a spoon while eating my breakfast. My father noticed and pointed me towards a rock. He said that the shiny spoon I was eating with was made from a rock like that. “As a child I was very surprised and interested to know how they made it. That moment drove me to study science.” She wasn’t, however, entirely sure which path she would pursue in the future, with her aspirations shifting from wanting to be a scientist, to occasionally desiring a career as a teacher, and even dreaming of becoming an astronaut. “But one thing was certain, I wanted to study at top institutes of India,” she said.
From childhood passion to reality
Dr Purohit was born and raised in a rural village of India, named Kaudola, in the district of Kalahandi, and it was in that village where she completed her primary and high school education. “My father – being a teacher – understood the importance of education and constantly encouraged me to study and participate in all types of academic competitions like debate, essay writing and even painting.” It was when she started winning prizes in these competitions that her confidence was boosted and she became even more eager to learn. “It ignited a strong desire in me to keep expanding my knowledge and continue my education.”
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After graduating high school at the age of 15, Dr Purohit enrolled in a local college. She found, however, the education quality there to be poor and so sought to study at a better school outside her district. “In those years, my family was not financially sound enough to afford the tuition and hostel fees. After about two months, my father managed to get a bank loan to support my decision, and I got admission to a private women's college.” This experience was Dr Purohit’s first time living away from home and the first months were tough, especially with the language difficulties. “Until high school, I had mostly spoken our local dialect, which is different from Odia. While I could read and write in Odia and English, I wasn't fluent in speaking. With time, I improved my skills and got better at studying. Eventually I became the bestperforming student at the women’s college in the state board examination in 2007,” Dr Purohit said. The idea of studying metallurgy came to her during a visit from the women’s college Chairman while she was completing her higher-secondary education. The Chairman mentioned his background in metallurgy and Dr Purohit pinpoints that moment as the first time she considered studying metallurgy for her higher education. In that same year, she qualified for the Odisha Joint Entrance Examination and started an undergraduate course in Metallurgical and Materials Engineering at a prestigious state government institute, Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology. Following the undergraduate course, she wanted to pursue her master’s at one of India’s top-tier institutions, clearing the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering examination in her first attempt and securing admission into the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur. www.miningmagazine.com.au