Alison Wain trained as an archaeological conservator before discovering a passion for large technology conservation. She worked on the development of the Scienceworks campus of Museum Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, moved to Canberra to head up the Large Technology Workshop and Small Objects laboratory at the Australian War Memorial, and undertook a PhD exploring the ways in which people value, use and care for large technology heritage. She is now Assistant Professor and Discipline Lead in Cultural Heritage at the University of Canberra teaching materials conservation and heritage practice. Her research is focused on the challenges of preserving and interpreting engineering, industrial and science heritage, and in particular on the importance of recognising the intangible heritage of culture, skills and changeability connected with and embodied in machinery heritage.