Opinion piece written by Engineers Australia South Australia President 2016 Niki Robinson FIEAust
Engineers Australia South Australia was recently invited by the Re-Engineering Australia Foundation (REA) to be part of their display at the Science Alive! Exhibition held at the Royal Adelaide Show Grounds in August. The REA display highlighted the F1 in Schools™ competition, Land Rover 4x4 in Schools, Jaguar Primary Schools Challenge and the SUBS in Schools programs. In addition, it celebrated South Australia’s recent competition National winners, Team ATHENA (St Peter’s Girls High School - SUBS in Schools) and Negative Filter (Brighton Secondary School - F1 in Schools™ competition). The Science Alive! event was attended by over 27,000 members of the community from all ages, all keen to experience hands-on activities related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
When reflecting on the number of young people actively seeking STEM information and knowledge, as well as the overall success of the event, it was clear that collaboration is the key to success in this area and confirmed our decision to make STEM one of Engineers Australia South Australia’s strategic initiatives. This local initiative links to the larger strategic goal of Engineers Australia that is Tomorrow’s Engineers; creating awareness of the opportunities in engineering among young Australians and their influencers.
Currently, we have focussed our energy on supporting and working with CSIRO with their Scientist and Mathematicians in Schools program, and the universities with initiatives such as the Science and Engineering Challenge.
Along with these structured STEM programs, Engineers Australia South Australia continues to provide assistance to other key stakeholders within the community through working with state government to provide introductions with industry, and supporting career nights at local primary and secondary schools.
If we truly want to make a positive impact on the future of our country, we must work together to support the uptake of STEM and advance the science of engineering in our community.
If you are interested in getting involved or have any thoughts about where you believe that we will be able to provide assistance and make a difference, please send an email to [email protected].