On Thursday 15 June, a group of Year 10 girls attended a Young Women in STEM event at the University of Adelaide. This event enabled students to apply their problem solving, communication and collaboration skills to varying activities. We heard from a Master of Philosophy candidate in the Engineering department, who was working on uses of nuclear medicine and diagnostics. It was great to see how enthusiastic she was about her role in STEM and improving outcomes for people undergoing cancer treatment.
Students put their collaboration skills and creativity to the test with a challenge set by the Engineering department – Cantilevers in Action. Using only newspaper and tape, cranes were built to set specifications and then tested for load capacity. All Concordia teams did very well with this challenge. We also learnt about robotics and how this area of development is helping many areas, from medicine to off-planet exploration. This time the task was to build a structure to free a Mars rover that had landed in a crater. This project needed to be achieved within budget and entrepreneurial skills were needed. Another engineering challenge was to build a DC motor with copper wire, a magnet and a battery. It was very valuable to hear from young women in the STEM fields about their journey to where they currently are, and what they think the future holds.
Dr Catherine O’Halloran
Science Coordinator
‘I really enjoyed the opportunity to go on the Young Women in STEM day. It was a good experience to go to a university and explore the different things I can do once I graduate. I liked completing all of the practical challenges that we got tasked to do and working together with the other people that went.’ - Niamh 10ALON
‘I loved the opportunity of being invited to this Young Women in STEM day. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to try and experience different types of engineering, to allow me to see whether or not that is a career I want to pursue. It was a very enjoyable experience.’ - Hannah 10ALON
‘I learned many things about science, engineering, designing and building. I used my brainstorming to consider how to build and make the wire spin through those activities with my friends, which I have never experienced in my home country. This excursion also helped me to have a deeper understanding of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), think about the career I want to do in the future and consider occupations related to STEM. Overall, I think this excursion was really useful for me to think about my future job and interests. I’m grateful that our school gave me this opportunity.’ - Zhiyan 10RSOM
