Diane Boyle 2024

“On the one hand, diving might seem to be the antithesis of computer technology.

They are both in a sense, black and white. But you need to get things right or you are in trouble. There is no grey area!”

Diane Boyle is an active member of the U3APP IT team.

Prior to living in Australia, Diane obtained a Bachelor of Mathematics (Honours Computer Science) in Canada.

Throughout her career, Diane has worked in computer technology.

What motivated you to join U3APP? I joined U3APP in 2011. Having recently retired, I perused various U3A websites for details on their current courses and found what I wanted at U3APP.

Tales of the Sea, tutored by Colin Jones. This was something that I was really interested in. So, I joined U3APP.

Where did you spend your childhood years? My family is Canadian. I grew up in a small rural town called London Ontario.

Diane recalled with amusement that in later years she had to be careful when asked, “where do you come from?”

Of course I couldn’t just say London, as people would think I meant England, but London Ontario is where I come from.

We were just an ordinary family. There were 4 of us, my parents, my older brother and me. Our home and neighbouring houses were built around a big oval. So, all the kids would congregate there. In summer we played baseball and in winter we made snowmen and had snowball fights.

How was your school experience? I always did pretty well. It was just expected of you. There was no overt encouragement in those days. It was a very different environment from parents today, with overt ambitions for their children, or “helicopter parenting.”

Your preferred subjects? Mathematics, geography and languages. Most subjects but not science, I was not so interested in science.

What is the appeal of mathematics for you? Well, it is logical. So you don’t need to interpret it. It is either right or wrong.

Would you expound on this? There is no “grey” area. Whereas perhaps in social work there is no right or wrong, but there is a lot of “grey”, so to speak.

My brother became a High School mathematics teacher. When I was thinking about what I wanted to do, he showed me a flowchart.

A flowchart is like a diagram with a question that follows or flows into an answer and then into further questions and resolutions.

My brother talked to me about computers, how they follow logic, like a flowchart.

So, I decided that I wanted to learn computer science. At that time, computers were very new and there were not many colleges that enabled this. So, I left home and went to a university that included computer science in their mathematics degree.

If computer science had been included in history, I would have taken history. It was computer science that fascinated me.

Why did you leave Canada? After I obtained my university degree, I worked for a while and saved up just enough money to get me half-way around the world.

Australia seemed different, exciting, also some cousins of mine lived here. I was about 23 years old when I first came to Australia. 2 years later, whilst I had no specific plans at that time, but being of a logical mind, I considered the pros and cons for staying or leaving.

I had some negative thoughts about Canada where I came from and some positive thoughts about living in Australia. It was quite an easy decision really, I simply preferred living in Australia.

I obtained employment with a company now known as Computer Sciences of Australia, where I stayed for 25 years. Subsequently I worked for an international bank. Computer technology was and is a very good industry to make a career in, as it is always changing, there are always new things developing.

What are your thoughts on AI and where computer science is heading? Well even decades ago, it was anticipated that computer science would get to where we are today and beyond. I think it was inevitable.

I personally do not use AI, but it will improve over time. Currently information may be collated from social media, so it is not always reliably factual.

In the future we will need detailed information relating to industries, environmental sciences and other complex matters. AI provides known information, but will it be as good at creating valid, new information?

When and why did you join the IT group? Helen Vorath and I joined U3APP at about the same time. Helen involved herself with IT and quickly realised that this is not a one person job. It is essential to have backup, to share the work. I am not sure how, but she located me, and I joined the team.

How would you describe your role currently? Well, it’s fun. You don’t volunteer to do something unless you are going to enjoy it.

How many hours a week do you need to put in? These days, it is not so much but we used to put in about 10 to 12 hours a day.

We have built a lot more sophistication into the system, with tasks occurring automatically.

Helen Vorath has led the way, enabling the team to work less hours a day. Also, there are now 6 members doing IT work.

The main focus being, to share our thinking and to share our work, whilst ensuring that there is backup for unexpected problems.

During COVID, together with Pam Caven and the late Jim Pribble, we worked at least 12 hours a day, guiding U3APP through those difficult times, on line.

Currently about 75% of courses are face to face but we continue to run courses on ZOOM, including the Saturday Seminars.

Have you always resided in Melbourne? Yes, I have lived in South Yarra but mostly in Port Phillip. I have also continued to travel extensively in Europe, North and South America, Asia and Canada where my brother lives.

My preferred mode of travelling is by boat. Cruise ships make what they call “transition journeys” enabling the ship to spend the summer in Europe and winter in the Caribbean or Asia, for instance.

So, instead of going in a circle, you depart from one point, and end up on the opposite side. I like transition journeys, so I have done quite a few of them.

What is it you like about boats? Being on the water, the ocean is fascinating. My grandfather had a large vessel, he would sail up and down the coast in the UK, delivering goods.

But I never thought that I would end up becoming a scuba diver!

What exactly is scuba diving? Well, you carry your own air supply, so you are self-contained with your universal breathing apparatus.

Snorkelling is different, as you are breathing the external air through a snorkel. With scuba diving you take the air down with you.

I learnt to dive before making a planned trip to Lord Howe Island. I was then able to dive around the reef, and I just fell in love with it.

How would you describe this experience? Well, you are floating underwater, but in 3 dimensions. You can go forward, backwards and sidewards but you can also go up and down. You can’t do that on land, unless you are a bird!

Underwater, you have this total freedom of movement. You are looking at the fish and colourful sponges, even in our local bay. But there are also a lot of shipwrecks. Brighton, Sandringham, Williamston are just a few of the locations.

Some wrecks date back to 1830, 1890’s.There is a paddle steamer near Portarlington.

Why do you like exploring sunken ships? Well, it is always interesting to know how the ship sank. You can dive down and sit in the captain’s chair on the bridge or steer the wheel. But some of the ships we visit have been deliberately sunk, as in a “ships graveyard”, including navy ships.

But diving has its own dangers. If you enter a ship and stir up the silt for instance, you are unable to see, and you may lose your way out. There are known risks.

Further training in scuba diving? I have trained extensively in scuba diving over the years. When my son, now aged 40 years with a child, my grandson, decided to take this up, we would dive together. It is essential to have a buddy, you can’t go on your own.

We belong to a local Dive Club and go on trips, including to Vanuatu. We have a lot of fun together.

Do you continue to go out diving? Unfortunately, during Covid, dive boats were not permitted to operate, so I stopped diving at that time, and I have not recommenced.

However, I intend to visit Thailand later this year and maybe I will get back into it there.

Do you have any favourite deep water dives? The Great Barrier Reef is absolutely amazing. We saw reef sharks, tiny fish, colourful coral. It was just mesmerising.

However, shipwrecks became my favourite diving experience. In Vanuatu there is a ship from the 2^nd World War, a large passenger ship, the SS President Coolidge, that was used by the American Navy as a troop carrier.

The ship hit a mine, the captain managed to steer the ship towards an island. He wanted to get everyone off before it sank completely. All bar one were saved. I spent a week diving in and out of this ship, it was amazing.

Diane has furthered her diving interests by studying maritime archaeology.

I was interested in learning more about various shipwrecks in the Mediterranean, the condition of wrecks and what has been done to preserve them.

More recently maritime archaeology has focused on “submerged lands”. There are ongoing investigations in the North sea between England and Scandinavia, sunken land which was once inhabited. Also, similar explorations are being carried out in North West Australia.

I have completed a number of courses and attended conferences on submerged lands.

Your current classes at U3APP? I continue to play Petanque, I enjoy the social aspects also. And Indigenous Australia Ancient History, Current with Claude Baxter.

Future travels? Next month I have been invited to go on an Australian outback air safari with a friend hosting a “bespoke tour”. We will take a 9 seat passenger plane. It will be fascinating. Our first stop is Wilpena Pound.

Final reflections? On the one hand, diving might seem to be the antithesis of computer technology.

But there is a comparison. They are both in a sense, black and white. You need to get things right or you are in trouble. There is no grey area!

Diane’s love of logic, from her childhood to this day, led her into a career in computer technology, which together with the IT Team is of immeasurable benefit to U3APP.

But perhaps it is this same application that has led Diane, surprising even herself, into depths of the ocean. Scuba diving downwards to marvel at shipwrecks, then upwards, emerging onto the surface of yet another flowchart.

Diane Boyle was interviewed by Felicity May.