Students in the Mackay region will make history at the Queensland Museum, thanks to St Patrick’s College Mackay recently receiving a generous grant of $18,000 under the Engaging Science Grants Program.
Not only does this grant support their innovative project ‘Robotics In Action’ but also aims to enhance student engagement in robotics and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematical) fields.
This program is a part of a broader initiative that allocates nearly $500,000 to 28 recipients across the state in hopes of boosting student participation in scientific research and STEM activities to build their knowledge and skills for future career pathways.
At the start of the year, students in grades nine and ten began collaborating with Dr. David Pyle who is a senior lecturer and scientist at QUT Brisbane and also works for the Queensland Museum. Part of Dr. Pyle’s work involves photographing artifacts and converting them into 3D digital models.
One significant challenge he faced was the ‘banana effect,’ where long, thin objects warped at the ends. To address this, students were tasked with designing a turntable to rotate these objects for comprehensive photographic coverage.
By working with Dr. Pyle, the students have the opportunity to tackle real-world problems and overall increase their skills in various ways.
The grant enables students to not only work with Dr. Pyle but also with local engineers to develop and eventually manufacture their device. Although they are still in the prototype phase, they are making significant progress towards a functional model and are aiming to have it completed by the end of the year.
This project provides students with hands-on experience and introduces them to local industries which can open pathways for future academic and career opportunities.
Sandra Bayliss is a teacher on the Mercy campus and has been leading the project since its inception.
Ms. Bayliss highlights that one of the most valuable skills that students are gaining from this project is collaboration. They are learning to work together effectively within their school community and with professionals across the country whilst also refining their individual strengths.
“This offers great opportunities for the students to extend their knowledge with David, but not only that, they also get to work with local industries.
“They’ll be able to fabricate this particular device working with engineering companies here in Mackay to learn what industries and what jobs are available to them in the future,” she said.
Ms Bayliss also noted that their technological skills will also advance from the program, given they communicate and work on specific programs with Dr. Pyle - who is located in Brisbane.
The year nine and ten students at St Patrick’s College shared their excitement about the project as they emphasised the importance of being involved in a project that not all schools get to partake in.
Rexjan Melocotones said “I think it’s pretty great that we are getting recognised for this.”
Explaining the collaboration process, Rexjan said, “We got all the ideas together, so to get the two prototypes together in check, we broke into three separate groups, specialising in those three things so we have a couple of people building the claw and turn table and another group doing the tripod and the other group working on the remote-control switch.”
Jacob Smart says partaking in this project “will look very good on the resume…to be able to say you worked on the project for the Queensland Museum especially if you’re trying to get into anywhere that has robotics, computers and coding in that field, you can say you’ve worked at a very high level which is experience that not a lot of people our age would have.”
The students are thrilled for their upcoming trip to the Queensland Museum.
Aaron Greenwood said he’s “really looking forward to learning more about what pathways would be good and having a bit of fun, learning and just enjoying time doing robotics.”
“We’re extremely lucky to have received this fund,” Ms Bayliss added.
Ms Sandra Bayliss with year nine and ten students: Rexjan Melocotones, Jacob Smart, Aaron Greenwood, Jackson Yates, Axle Barrett and Darcy Edgerton. Photo credit: Hannah McNamara
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