Teenage submarine designers from Pinjarra Senior High School have been competing in the national finals of the Subs in Schools Technology Challenge in Perth this week.
Western Australia was represented by four of the nine teams with students from Comet Bay College, South Fremantle Senior High School and Pinjarra Senior High School having survived a series of elimination rounds to make it to the highest level.
“Aqua Nova” (Pinjarra SHS) entered a scale replica of a submarine they created, “Alia Astra”, “The Kraken” and “Pinni Puddles” developed unique craft for the Large Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) class.
The Aqua Nova students had to navigate their wirelessly operated submarine through a series of obstacle courses, while the ROV teams carried out complex tasks such as picking up and moving objects while filming with onboard cameras.
Subs in Schools was invented by Re-Engineering Australia Foundation in association with the Department of Defence and industry stakeholders (ASC, Saab, DCNS) as a way of attracting young boys and girls to Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) via project-based learning.
It is aligned with the national curriculum and is supported in WA by the Maritime Schools Pathway Program.
Program manager Gail Manton introduced 16 WA schools and over 400 students to the competition and said the design brief was apt given the nation’s requirement for a generation of technicians to work on the multi-billion dollar Future Submarines contract.
Re-Engineering Australia Foundation’s Michael Myers said Subs in Schools addressed a breadth of key learning areas as well as soft skills to maximise students’ employability.
“We link schools, industry, TAFE, universities and parents in a collaborative and experiential learning environment focused on changing the metaphor of the education process,” he said.
“The challenge is multi-faceted and multidisciplinary.
“It encourages students to collaborate with industry partners within the context of their projects to learn about engineering principles such as physics, aerodynamics, design, manufacture, leadership/teamwork, media skills and project management, and apply them in a practical, imaginative, competitive and exciting way.”
