Chief Executive Officer of Engineers Australia, Stephen Durkin recently stated that “Engineering innovation starts at school. Investing in STEM education is imperative to create a better future for Australia”.
Providing an opportunity for engineers to contribute to this important venture, Engineers Australia is teaming up with Scientists and Mathematicians in Schools (SMiS) to bring more engineers into schools to inspire the next generation of problem solvers and innovators.
SMiS is a national education program which facilitates ongoing professional partnerships between school teachers and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) professionals. Through this volunteering program, teachers and students engage with STEM professionals, and together, the partners share enthusiasm, expertise, and knowledge to enhance STEM education.
In NSW, over 450 SMiS partnerships are active right now, but there are still over 200 teachers who would love the opportunity to collaborate with a STEM professional. Engineers Australia members are invited to register with SMiS to collaborate with these teachers and share your love and knowledge of STEM.
In this program you will be partnered with a local teacher looking for support. From there, the engineer and the teacher get active! They decide between themselves how they will proceed based on their respective workloads, their expertise, the curriculum and the school’s needs. The flexibility allows partners to develop their own style and may include, but is definitely not limited to; hands-on activities, presentations, demonstrations, mentoring, emailing and video conferencing. There are no fixed hours – it’s up to the engineer and the teacher to decide how to collaborate.
The engineers who have participated so far have found this collaboration highly rewarding and a wonderful way to contribute to the community. A SMiS Engineer recently spoke about the program saying “It’s about guaranteeing our future. We need engineers down the track, not only just now. Companies have an obligation to have quality people down the pipeline. The best way is to send the best engineers into schools to inspire next generation of engineers in Australia”.
To celebrate Engineers Australia’s partnership, SMiS is hosting a series of special events in June 2016, including two workshops on Developing an Engineer’s Career Talk for Schools, and an Engineers Networking Event at the Discovery Shed in Mona Vale. Engineers are encouraged to register with SMiS to receive an invitation to these events.
Find out more information about the SMiS program and register your interest by visiting www.csiro.au/SMiS. Questions can be directed to the local NSW SMiS project officer, Candice Lim, at [email protected].