On Friday October 6th, Robogals teamed up with Engineers Australia to run the 2017 Science and Engineering Day (SED). The event was open to girls across Melbourne, and this year, it was held in conjunction with a celebration of the conclusion of the Robogals Science Challenge.
The Robogals Science Challenge is an Australia-wide science competition for young girls. Through the competition, participants learn about science and engineering while working on fun projects on a variety of topics.
Science and Engineering Day
The event saw girls gather from all over Melbourne to participate in a day filled with exciting STEM activities. In small groups, the girls programmed Lego Mindstorm robots, designed and built bridges, and got hands-on with cool technology such as the Microsoft HoloLens.
In the afternoon, Professor Adrienne Clarke, Science Challenge Ambassador, recounted her own journey in STEM. She inspired the room with stories about her experiences and advice. The girls also heard from Michael Scobie, a Senior Emerging Technology Specialist at Telstra.
The Science Challenge Awards
Earlier that morning, winners of the Robogals Science Challenge made their way to Port Melbourne for a tour of Creature Technology Company. While there, our winners had a behind-the-scenes look at the engineering that goes into the large, life-like animatronics featured in the Jurassic World exhibition and King Kong: Alive on Broadway.
The winners then joined the girls at Engineers Australia for the STEM workshops and Science Challenge Awards Ceremony. Winners were presented with certificates, medals and prizes sponsored by STEAM educational resource supplier, iWorld Australia.
Robogals would like to thank our Science Challenge judges and partners, Fiona Slechten from Calibre Consulting, David Beck from Beck Engineering and Jillian D’Urso from Minerals Council Australia. Our judges joined us during the awards ceremony where they met the finalists and provided their thoughts on the girls’ projects. We would also like to thank our Science Challenge Ambassadors, Dr Rowan Brookes and Professor Adrienne Clarke for all their work in promoting and enriching this year’s Science Challenge.
Next Stop, 2018!
Activities such as these provide young girls with the opportunity to explore their interests in STEM outside of school; seeing everyone having fun also motivates us at Robogals to continue finding better and more engaging ways inspire the next generation of female scientists and engineers. Our team has begun planning for next year’s competition and awards event, and we have many new and exciting initiatives in store!
Make sure to sign up to the Science Challenge newsletter and Like our page on Facebook for all the updates on Science Challenge 2018!
