Students at Trangie Central School have gained a better understanding of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) thanks to a recent tour to the town by engineers.
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As well as visiting Trangie last week, Engineers without Borders also visited Coonamble, Wellington, Narromine and Dubbo schools.
Head Science teacher at Trangie Central Gary Hansen said earlier this term students were given a project where they had to specialise in the planning and building of a model which would help to address construction issues related to bushfires, cyclones and flooding.
Each team needed to consider the materials their models would need to be constructed of, as well as integrating design aspects to tackle the conditions.
Last week, students presented their completed models to the STEM cohort, as well as special guests from Engineers without Borders.
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Mr Hansen said students were able to gain feedback on their projects from the engineers, who questioned them about their choice of materials, their designs and the processes each team used to reach their final products.
"It was a proud moment for us to see the students face their nerves of speaking and presenting on a microphone, but it was equally encouraging to hear the questions their peers were asking about each team's projects," Mr Hansen said.
The STEM workshop program was made possible thanks to 25-year-old mechatronic engineering graduate, Jacky Cai.
Jacky, is part of the Engineering Graduate program of Komatsu Australia and secured a grant from the company to talk-up STEM in regional NSW schools.
The workshops not only introduced the young students to STEM, but showed them the power of it.
"Not just as a career option but actual ways you can use it to solve social, environmental issues," Jacky said.
The workshops centred around renewable energy, where students created effective and efficient designs for wind turbines, as well as building rafts which could hold the greatest amount of marbles before sinking.
Jacky said it was important to get out to regional schools because they are much less exposed to STEM than their city counterparts.
"I myself am from a regional area and I didn't discover engineering until I was in high school and when I did I knew it was my passion," he said.
"The idea is to expose kids at a younger age to engineering but also to humanitarian engineering and the principles behind that."
Mr Hansen said at the end of the day the engineers were involved in their school STEM meeting to gain feedback further feedback.
"It was great to get some outside feedback and their visit will help strengthen our commitment."
