National Final 2024 - Townsville
Team Leaders Lisa Campbell, Chris Hendry and Anna Popowicz travelled to Townsville in late October to present the National Final for 2024. We were honoured to have Emeritus Professor John O'Connor, chair of the National Council of the Science and Engineering Challenge accompany us and take part as a VIP bridge judge. James Cook University hosted the National Final at their Bebegu Yumba campus in Townsville.
Student Social
Students, teachers and staff attended a social dinner on Thursday night, enjoying the beautiful Bebegu Yumba campus.
The students and teachers were given a chance to mingle and meet like-minded people from around Australia. The live music and beautiful surrounds of the Bebegu Yumba campus created a welcoming and relaxed environment. Shaun Smith represented Engineers Australia as the keynote speaker and provided the students with insights into his journey through his STEM career. Shaun then joined Professor Bouchra Senadji, head of engineering at JCU and JCU engineering students on a panel to answer questions from the students.
National Final Day
John O'Connor officially opened the day of competition
The students were randomly assorted into teams within their school group and assigned a random activity to complete. The pressure was on with the best 8 schools from Australia up against each other!
After a tense day of competition, the scores were extremely tight as the students gathered together for the end of day bridge testing. The crowd was very excited, cheering on the bridge teams with great enthusiasm. The bridge test and presentation of certificates was live streamed and you can watch the recording!
Watch the Finale!
National Final scores
Congratulations to Smith's Hill High School who achieved the highest score on the day! We also want to congratulate and thank all students and teachers who went to great lengths to attend the National Final, some travelling incredible distances to be there.
Rank | Score | School |
1 | 1301.52 | Smith’s Hill High School |
2 | 1247.22 | James Ruse Agricultural High School |
3 | 1206.67 | Christ Church Grammar School |
4 | 1203.06 | Urrbrae Agricultural High School |
5 | 1173.29 | The Cathedral School of St Anne & St James |
6 | 1169.65 | Geelong Grammar School |
7 | 1121.47 | Calvin Christian School |
8 | 981.02 | Marist College Emerald |
Smith's Hill High School - National Champions 2024!
Hear from some Smith's High High School students
Aiden Dempsey
If there is anyone considering participating in the event in future years, I would highly recommend it as I, as well as all my peers thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Competing with your friends, even if you don't make it to Nationals is still very enjoyable and I believe the many new things I learned will greatly benefit me as I progress through to years 11 & 12.
I think that I am much more open to a future career in the field than previously now that I have spent time engaging and learning about the subject more in depth.
Finn Dempsey
I think that the experience helped show everyone that science and engineering is a lot more than physically building buildings or working in a laboratory analysing beakers. The engineering challenge focused on testing applied knowledge by giving us tasks where we had to think outside the box and think scientifically in order to engineer a solution.
The University of Newcastle acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands within our footprint areas: Awabakal, Darkinjung, Biripai, Worimi, Wonnarua, and Eora Nations. We also pay respect to the wisdom of our Elders past and present.