Current as of 1/6/2023

Dr Dimity Dornan, AO is a social entrepreneur, bionics advocate, speech pathologist, researcher, Founder and Director of Hear and Say, Founder and Chair of Bionics Queensland, past member of Senate of the University of Queensland, and is currently a Fellow of Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE), the Queensland College of Arts and Sciences and also Speech Pathology Australia. Dimity has also been appointed to Adjunct Professor to the University of Queensland School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences and Adjunct Professor to the Science and Engineering Faculty, School of Mechanical, Medical & Process Engineering, Queensland University of Technology, and is a member of the Advisory Board for the ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centre—Joint Biomechanics (ARC ITTC-JB).

In 1992 she established Hear and Say as a leading not-for-profit for deaf children learning to listen and speak, particularly with surgically implantable hearing technology like the bionic ear. She is currently sharing her experience for the benefit of the stakeholders in the wider bionics industry.

In 2016 she founded 'Bionics Queensland', which was formally incorporated in 2018 and officially launched in 2019. As Chair of the Board, she has been working to promote the Bionics Industry and help bring new bionics solutions to market for the benefit of people with previously untreatable medical problems. These include not only hearing but also visual, neurological, limb and organ conditions.

Dr Dornan is aiming to bring outcomes similar to those legendary ones possible for many people who use the bionic ear to other new spin-off devices (eg bionic eye, brain bionics, bionic organs and limbs etc.).

She is currently co-chair of the ATSE Industry and Innovation Forum and Chair of the Policy Steering Group.

Dr Dimity Dornan AO is a Speech Pathologist and the Founder, former Clinical Director, now Executive Director of Hear and Say, which enhances deaf children to listen and speak by optimitising the application of technology such as cochlear implants. She is a tireless campaigner to improve the hearing outcomes of deaf children and actively contributes through her clinical and research work. Dimity has founded a number of national and global research collaborations as well as Hear and Say WorldWide global professional training. She has been recognised nationally and internationally for the impact of her work.