Hosted by Australian National University and University of Queensland, assisted by Rotary Australia, the NYSF is a science and technology chance of a lifetime for 460 young people from across Australia who are immersed in STEM, the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. Simeon, a student at Mount Alexander College in Flemington travelled to the Canberra event representing Rotary Flemington Kensington and Charlotte, a student at Penleigh and Essendon Grammar chose to travel to Brisbane where she was most interested in the biology sessions.
Simeon and Charlotte shared their experiences with Rotarians and friends at Flemington Kensington According to Lesley McCarthy, they were effusive in their comments, and delighted to have met so many like-minded young people. In Canberra, Simeon attended “incredibly cool activities” such as a Codebreaking Class at the Australian Signals Directory, as well as visiting the Mount Stromlo Observatory and seeing a life-sized replica of the Mars Rover, Curiosity.Some of his highlights were live conferencing with scientific experts, living on campus at ANU and making close friendships that will last me for life. “I found my tribe”, he told us! And undertaking workshops and lectures from specialists in their own fields; getting valuable insights into the world of science as a career and experiencing Uni life. His most amazing experience was seeing the supercomputer at NCI, how big it was and the copper cooling tubes used. He devoted over half his presentation to this, showing just how much it impacted on him. He was also very keen to discuss the visit to Mount Stromlo where he experienced the team working on satellites; creating, developing and programming them.
At the University of Queensland, Charlotte explained that students were placed into two groups; a larger interest group and a smaller home group. These become her family during the program, and she has developed strong links to all. She was especially interested in the pathology, diseases, mRNA and seeing the specimens in the labs. She also worked on robotics and dinosaurs, bringing items home for her young brother. The lectures and presentations by experts in the field were a good introduction to what university life could be, as was living on campus.