Oresome opportunity for Queensland students

Queensland Minerals and Energy Academy (QMEA) has seen twenty Year 10 students from across the state attend its first engineering camp this week.

The Oresome Engineering Camp for Year 10 students was jointly facilitated by The University of Queensland (UQ) and the QMEA, the education arm of the Queensland Resources Council (QRC).

Running over the school holidays at The University of Queensland (UQ), the three-day camp saw students work with university and industry experts to investigate, create and complete a series of engineering projects. The projects included designing an emergency services vehicle and an autonomous mining truck.

Mansfield State High School student Yasiru Wijesooriya says the camp was a great chance to get an insight into engineering in the mining industry.

“The camp has been fantastic, we’ve done lots of hands-on activities like building model autonomous mining vehicles, which was really cool,” he said.

“The engineering camp has been completely different to school, it has shown me what it would be like to study engineering at university and I’ve enjoyed meeting other students from across Queensland who are into engineering like me.”

The Queensland Government recently invested $2m to expand QMEA to support future interest in energy and minerals career pathways for the next generation.

UQ Mechanical and Mining Engineering School head professor Ross McAree says the camp was a fantastic opportunity for students to experience the real-world opportunities presented by engineering.

“By working alongside industry professionals and UQ academics, they’re not only building technical skills but also gaining insight into the diverse career pathways available in engineering within the resources sector,” he said.

“We’re proud to support the next generation of innovators and problem-solvers.”

QMEA currently has a network of 100 schools and directly engages with up to 6000 students each year. The recent funding will see it extend its reach across central and north Queensland, adding 50 schools and more than 10,000 students to its program.

QRC skills, education and diversity policy director Katrina-Lee Jones says the camp proved to be popular with Year 10 students.

“We had 118 applications for the twenty spots available for this camp, which demonstrates the ever-increasing interest in engineering for secondary students,” she said.

“In the resources sector there is a continual demand for engineers in traditional roles like mining, mechanical and electrical as well increasing opportunities in data and automation.”

The Queensland mining industry currently employs more than 81,000 people and contributes more than $120b to the state’s economy each year.