Thish de Silva is the Research and Development Coordinator for the Analytical Services Branch of the National Measurement Institute, Australia (NMIA). Thish’s professional expertise range from food and health Sciences. She has a PhD in Biotechnology working towards perfecting the Australian Strawberry Varieties, a project funded by Horticulture Australia in collaboration with RMIT University. Over the past 7 years she was involved in the development of methods for bacterial filtration efficiency measurements for surgical masks and to measure efficacy of hand sanitisers, effectively addressing Australia’s COVID measurement gaps. She has developed tools to measure antibacterial activity in Australian honey types supporting the honey industry. Thish also closely work with universities by facilitating collaborative research and post graduate student placements at the NMI. When invited, she supports NATA and Standards Australia with their technical assessments and technical committees respectively.