School students from across the region will this Friday participate in a first for the Hunter. The Hunter STEM Festival will see over 400 students from 16 primary and secondary schools compete in a range of activities aimed at building STEM and other employability skills.
Developed by RDA Hunter’s ME Program, the STEM Festival will be held at The Forum, University of Newcastle from 9am until 4pm this Friday 2nd September. The Festival incorporates four exciting National and International competitions run by Re-Engineering Australia Foundation including:
– Hunter F1 in Schools Regional Finals where student teams design, build, test and race miniature CO2 powered F1 cars
– Land Rover 4 x 4 Challenge where students engage in hands-on engineering tasks to build and test a model 4 x 4 car
– Jaguar Primary School Challenge where student teams emulate a Jaguar car by designing, manufacturing the fastest car
– Subs in Schools Display where students learn about designing the next generation of submarines
In addition the following activities will take place as part of the festival
– MECO2 Dragsters Challenge where student teams design, build, test and race CO2 powered dragsters
– UON SAE Race Car Simulation where students access a simulated formula SAE race car experience
– UON Smart, Hunter Innovation and Science Hub, Science & Engineering Competition Displays students access STEM outreach programs offered by the University of Newcastle.
The Hunter’s first STEM Festival has received strong region-wide industry support with a record number of judge volunteers from organisations including PwC, Boeing, BAE Systems, RAAF Base Williamtown, Thales, NSW Department of Industry, Hummingbird Electronics, Bloomfield Group, AusIndustry and the AI Group.
“We are very excited about the STEM Festival which will be the first time that all of these dynamic school programs have been staged together,” said RDA Hunter’s ME Program Director, Dr Scott Sleap.
“Our students love working and competing as teams and the hands-on nature of the activities means they are learning new skills but in a practical and fun way that we have found achieves great results.”
“The STEM Festival incorporates a number of REA Foundation competitions and ME Program activities. It aims to equip students with the STEM skills they need for the new jobs of the future but also with core non-technical skills like team-work, communication and problem-solving that employers are also looking for their people to be proficient in.” continued Dr Sleap.
http://www.meprogram.com.au/home/hunter-valley-stem-festival/