After several years of working as a systems analyst and programmer, she returned to academia, first working in the newly established Higher Education Research Unit at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and then in the School of Computing Sciences at the University of Technology, Sydney. There she developed and taught courses in programming, information systems, and social implications of computers in one of the first computing science degree programs in Australia. From 1978 to 1979, she was a visiting scholar at The Open University in the UK, developing course materials for the first distance-education course on computer-based information systems.
Her intense interest in the impact of computers on society, particularly when implemented in organizations, has led, more recently, to her turning her attention to human-computer interaction (HCI) and the opportunities it provides for significant benefits to people and organizations. In 1990, she worked in a world-class usability laboratory in a large banking corporation. Since her return to the University of Technology, Sydney in 1991, she has created and taught HCI courses for students and IT professionals and established the first industry-standard usability laboratory in a computing science school in an Australian university. She has written numerous articles and papers -- many for IFIP events.
Mrs. Hammond has been involved in several major state and federal government projects, mainly concerning information technology and education. From 1984 to 1986, she participated in the National Computer Education Programme to introduce Computers into Australian Schools and was director of the Information Technology in the Curriculum Programme at the Curriculum Development Centre in Canberra.
She has been an active participant in professional society matters since her joining the computing industry. She was one of the earliest members of the Australian Computer Society and has served in many major roles. As part of her ACS effort, she produced films and videos about information technology and social change -- often with an educational focus -- and, for two years, produced an interview series, "The Computer Programme," for a Sydneyy radio station. She was the second woman in the ACS to be elected to the rank of Fellow.
Mrs. Hammond has participated in IFIP since 1981, when she joined Working Group 3.1 and, later, WG3.4. In 1991, she became the Australian representative to TC13. She was elected as vice-chair of TC13 in 1993 and as chair in 1995 (the first woman appointed as a TC Chair). Also, she was Conference Chair for the TC13 INTERACT ’97 conference, bringing this important international HCI conference to Australia for the first time. She received the IFIP Silver Core Award in September 1998.
Believing that IFIP should take a strong lead in ensuring that people remain the central concern when new IT systems are developed and implemented, Mrs. Hammond would like to see a greater world acceptance of HCI as a vital part of developing and implementing IT solutions. To this end, she is working with TC13 members to strengthen the biennial INTERACT conference series and other events, to develop the TC13 Web-based information service as a world hub for HCI information, and to establish improved linkages between TC13 and IFIP Member societies.
Mrs. Hammond lives in Sydney with her husband and staunch supporter, Morrison, an educational psychologist and academic, and their two children. Her daughter works in the federal government public service while completing her university studies. Her son is studying to be a chiropractor and hopes to provide treatment for some of the participants in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney . In her leisure time, Mrs. Hammond likes to garden, pursue a variety of crafts, especially tapestry and lacemaking, croquet, and travel.
