One of the biggest high school events on the QUT calendar has attracted 1000 Year 9 and 10 students to test their love of science and engineering with the help of the university’s student ambassadors.
The 2023 Science and Engineering Challenge is a four-day national event that pits high school teams against each other for contests ranging from designing a mini Mars buggy to building a model glider to working out a low-cost city electricity system.
Gardens Point campus is hosting around 250 visiting Year 10s and Year 9s each day of the challenge (February 14-17).
One of the QUT students helping out is Tylar Cunzolo (pictured far right at top) – a QUT student ambassador who is in her final year of a double degree in engineering (majoring in mechatronics) and IT (computer science).
Tylar, who is from the small central Queensland town of Comet, guided the Mars activity, which challenged the visiting school students to build a build a small buggy-style rover with suspension that could tackle bumpy terrain.
It’s an area Tylar was also familiar with at high school. In Year 11 she was selected to take part in a space school run in Houston by NASA and the Houston Association for Space and Science Education).
“When I was back in Year 10 I knew I liked technology but I didn’t know what I wanted to study at university,” she said.
“I had to switch schools and move to boarding school (Rockhampton Girls Grammar) to be able to do more technology subjects and in Year 12 I decided to go for a double degree in engineering and IT.
“Now I want to work in robotics after uni. I’m a rural kid so I would like to do something in agricultural technology and automation.
“My family are farmers in the Emerald-Comet area. Farmers are very forward-thinking, farmers love technology … so there’s lots of opportunities there.”
Tylar also shared some advice for high school students still figuring out what they want to do.
“If you are interested in something like engineering and technology and you want to go to university, just enrol in something in that field and give it a go … once you are at uni it’s easy to change your degree if you need to,” she said.
“And if you aren’t sure about going to uni, take a gap year and work for a while and talk to lots of different people about their jobs or what they are studying at uni.”'
The Science and Engineering Challenge is a STEM outreach program run by the University of Newcastle in conjunction with universities across Australia.
At QUT, the event organiser is Keith Alexander – the QUT Faculty of Engineering’s student engagement coordinator.
“We have 250 students participating each day from Queensland schools as far as the Gold Coast and Maryborough,” Mr Alexander said.
“Our last day on Friday includes a visit from industry partners, such as representatives from Boeing, who are our major sponsor and help subsidise the cost for schools. Boeing was also involved in the design of the flight challenge that was introduced as one of our event activities this year.
“Our Faculty of Science and Faculty of Engineering staff are also taking part in a faculty ‘bridge-off’ on Friday to see who can build the best bridge.
“We love hosting the Science and Engineering Challenge each year – it’s one of the major activities we hold at QUT that is a practical touch point for school students who enjoy STEM and are considering careers in STEM fields.
“Many first-year students who are surveyed after starting uni at QUT say participating in the challenge or our other outreach events helped inspire them to study STEM.”
Applications for schools interested in taking part in next year’s Science and Engineering Challenge will open around October.
QUT Media contacts:
- Mechelle McMahon, media@qut.edu.au
- After hours, 0407 585 901