Meet a 'Logan Legend' – Dr Katrina Wruck
Meet the 8 Logan Legends inspiring our city – and share the legend in your life with us.
When Dr Katrina Wruck was named the 2025 Young Australian of the Year, she stood on stage in disbelief.
‘They said “Doctor” before they said my name and I knew it was me,’ says the 31-year-old. ‘I was surrounded by people who run our country, wearing heels, trying not to fall over and then I had to speak in front of millions.’
But behind that moment of national recognition is a story of grit, brilliance, and a deep commitment to community.
Dr Wruck, who calls Logan home, is a proud Panay Mabuygilayg woman, with ancestral roots in the saltwater people of Mabuyag Island in Zenadth Kes, also known as the Torres Strait Islands.
She is not only a trailblazing scientist and entrepreneur, but also the first Torres Strait Islander person to receive a national Australian of the Year award in any category.
Dr Katrina Wruck: 2025 Young Australian of the Year
‘My auntie told me I was the first Torres Strait Islander person to win an Australia Day award since they began in 1960. That means our community – a minority of a minority – is being seen,’ Katrina says.
‘When I speak with school students across Australia, I share my failures and how I worked through them. I want young people to understand that failure is part of the path to success, and that they, too, can achieve great things.’
Her award-winning startup, Nuki Kula Green Labs, is a groundbreaking initiative born from her PhD research at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT).
The company’s name means ‘water stone’ in Kala Lagaw Ya, the language of her Mob. It reflects both her cultural heritage and her scientific mission: to create sustainable, accessible laundry solutions for remote Indigenous communities.
ABOVE: Dr Katrina Wruck in her laboratory.
In places where detergent is too expensive or hard to access, families often go without, leading to outbreaks of scabies and, tragically, rheumatic heart disease in children.
‘I discovered a way to turn rocks into the main ingredient in laundry detergent,’ she explains. ‘But more than that, I wanted to create a reusable system that could help prevent diseases that are entirely preventable.’
Dr Wruck’s work is not just about chemistry, it’s about addressing health inequity. ‘Rheumatic heart disease is a disease of poverty and 94 per cent of those affected are Indigenous. That’s why this innovation matters,’ she says.
Her passion for equity is matched by her dedication to education, and using her speaker fees, Dr Wruck donates to remote schools and funds her travel to school visits in remote communities where she speaks to students about STEM and her journey.
‘At one school, 2 boys came up to me after my talk and said, ‘You’re the first scientist I’ve ever met. I didn’t know we could be scientists.’ That moment will stay with me forever – because that’s the power of visibility.’
Dr Wruck’s own path was far from easy, and as a primary school student on the Gold Coast she was dismissed as someone unable to reach basic milestones.
‘In Year 2 my teachers told my parents I’d never be a proficient reader. I was just learning differently, and instead of adapting, they put me in the “too hard” basket,’ she says.
That early dismissal lit a fire in Dr Wruck and she became determined to prove them wrong, becoming a high-level reader and one of the top students in her class.
ABOVE: Dr Katrina Wruck playing with Lego as a child.
In high school she was again underestimated. When selecting advanced maths, Dr Wruck was told she couldn’t handle it and was placed in an easier class.
But not for long because she soon excelled and they had to move her up to the advanced class.
After school she studied applied science at QUT, moving out of home at 17 and supporting herself through university by working in restaurants, where she met her former husband, Nathan.
Her love for chemistry was sparked when watching a Sci-Fi movie, The Rock, setting her on a path to study chemistry and later undertake a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), which she was completing during the height of the COVID pandemic.
It’s Dr Wruck’s unwavering determination to achieve that led her where she is now, on the cusp of growing a company dedicated to changing lives in remote communities. But her successes are not just about accolades, they’re about impact.
‘I want to be a role model for other First Nations women, especially those who are neurodivergent like me,’ she says.
ABOVE: Dr Katrina Wruck at the 2025 Australian of the Year ceremony.
PHOTO: Australian Of The Year 2025 ABC.
‘I call it the “golden trifecta”; being Blak, neurodivergent, and a woman. Statistically, we face more challenges throughout school and life, but I want young people to know you can do anything, you’ve just got to do the work.’
Dr Wruck’s advice to others facing similar barriers is powerful: ‘Know your supporters, those who believe in you more than you believe in yourself. Let them cheer you on. And don’t ever let someone else’s opinion – which belongs to them, not you – stop you from chasing your dreams.’
‘I want to show young Indigenous kids, especially girls, that they can be scientists, engineers, leaders. I want them to see that someone like them can stand on a national stage and be celebrated,’ she says.
Dr Wruck is not just a scientist or an entrepreneur. She is a symbol of what’s possible when brilliance meets purpose, and when a young girl, who was once told she’d never read, decides to change the world instead.
From classrooms to Country, Dr Katrina Wruck’s work shows what’s possible when talent meets purpose. See all 8 Logan Legends – and share the story of a local legend in your life. loganlegends.au