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Schools and Teachers

It is well recognised within the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment that teachers play a pivotal role in helping our prospective students to make informed choices and to be well prepared for our programs. To help exchange information we hold a number of events and activities throughout the year that are aimed at teachers and high school students.

Science and Engineering Challenge

The Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment has teamed up with the Faculty of Science and Information Technology to present the Science and Engineering Challenge across the state.

The Challenge is aimed at year 9 and 10 students and is made up of a set of fun and interesting activities completed over a day. Students work in teams to solve problems with each activity requirring a hands-on approach. Points are awarded for each activity and the top scoring team wins the Challenge.

The Challenges aims to present engineering in an inspirational manner, to excite the imagination of prospective students and provoke their interest. There are now 10 available activities with more on the drawing board. It becomes a difficult task for local coordinating committees to select which activities they will include in their Challenge.

Activities range from problem solving to design and build. Activities also aim to introduce an underlying principle related to technology. But most importantly the Challenge sets students towards thinking about technology in a way they perhaps had not previously considered.

One of the activities involves students constructing and flying an airship. They are provided with some basic construction materials (balsa, tape and helium balloons) and a pre wired motor set from which they construct their airship. They must also ensure that all team members are ready to take a turn as pilot. This reinforces the concept that producing the technology is only part of the problem, skilled operators must be ready to fully use this technology.

Students at Science and Engineering Challenge Another activity involves building a doll's chair from materials supplied for a doll weighing three Kg. Students are "charged" for labour, development, transport and materials. They are given "income" based on aesthetics, reparability and strength of the chair. The winners are the team making the most profit and students realise that the strongest chair is not always the best solution. This is the activity that usually forms the finale of the challenge with chairs being tested by sitting the doll to ultimately dropping the doll on them. Often the last test will decide the winning school for the Challenge.

There are a number of other activities including cracking cryptographic codes, building a catapult to launch squash balls, building a robot, solving a virtual maze, building a hull, solving the bouncing ball problem and building a bridge to take a dynamic load. All of these activities are designed such that students can use their creative and innovative skills. There is usually enough time for them to try a number of approaches before settling on their preferred solution.

Please contact the staff involved with the Science and Engineering Challenge for further information.