STEM Inspiration Day - Springfield

2019 Event Schedule

Springfield - 2 August 2019

Students are able to choose two (2) different activities from the below list for Session 1 and Session 2. 
(For example: Session 1 - 3D Printing and Session 2 - Engineering - Civil).

3D Printing

3D Printing Futures

Learn the basics of 3D Printing, explore applications in biomedical and open source projects.  Learn how to source models for 3D printing and how to do 3D scanning at home.  Touch and feel exotic samples and learn how to finish 3D prints with painting and hydrodipping techniques.

Agricultural Science

Mitigating the climate change impacts on agriculture

Become an agricultural scientist  and use advanced computational simulation platforms to develop strategies that will minimise the impact of climate change on agricultural production.

Astronomy

The dark side of the Sun

The Sun is our closest star and provides the Earth with warmth and energy that we need to survive.  However, the Sun has a dark side.  Providing the weather is clear, students will be observing the Sun through a special solar telescope to view the indicators of the Sun's activity.  This activity can produce high energy winds that can hit the Earth's atmosphere and effect our way of life in these days of technology.  If weather is not clear, students will look at what a spectrograph does and a live link to an operating observatory.

Engineering - Civil

Why friction is important in Civil and Mining Engineering

This hands-on activity group activity will have each person in the group will do two measurements, one with dry sand and one with wet sand. They will measure/calculate internal dry and wet friction of sand (to understand the impacts and importance of their differences - why, how, consequences?). A group measurement will be made by taking averages of all the individual measurements in each group and a table will be drawn on the whiteboard representing results of all groups. Discussions will be had regarding the averages, standard deviations and coefficient of variations and group measurement reliability and what they mean as well as the application of using the sand in various civil engineering applications.

Engineering - Construction

Earthquake proof buildings: The Shake Table

Build your own earthquake proof building and test them on site.

Food Science

Make it Flow - Designing space age food

3D printing of food provides a way to produce novel structures and textures of food, however part of the technical challenge is designing a food that can both flow through the printer and ‘set’ quickly once printed.  This session will focus on how to make fruit and vegetable purees printable.

Mechatronics/Electrical Engineering

Robotics in Bionic Control
Students will learn about the various sub-systems of robotics and how these can be combined to create automated solutions. Explore how to design and create electronics through prototyping circuits and integrating easy-to-create, affordable sensors for bionic control. Get hands-on in robotics and learn how these technologies can be implemented inside and outside the classroom.

Medical Laboratory Science

Human blood cells up close and personal

In this activity, students will have a taste of what it's like to be a medical laboratory scientist examining blood cells under a microscope. Students will learn to recognise normal cells and some not so normal cells like target cells, tear-drop cells and natural killer cells as they try to figure out what it is that is making their patient sick.

Nursing

Learn about the unique skills that you will develop as a Nurse

Physics

Solar Cars or the alternative activity: Detecting Invisible electromagnetic radiation

Can you build and drive a car that only runs on solar power? Come along and find out! However, should the weather be overcast, we will hold an alternative activity: Two different activities will be run sequentially in the one session, exploring different types of invisible radiation. Students will explore UV radiation and sunscreen protection in the first activity, and will explore different ways to detect and understand electromagnetic fields using plasma globes.  

Psychology and Counselling

Using psychology to enhance your life: Explore your Values and meet your Discoverer, Noticer, and Advisor (DNA-V)

This session will introduce students to a psychological model of growth and change (DNA-V) that was developed specifically for teens. Students will learn how the science of psychology can be applied in their everyday lives.  There will be opportunities for students to practice several skills from the DNA-V model.

Download the list of sessions (PDF 524KB).

Registrations will open shortly.

Every student and teacher that will be attending the event on Friday 2 August 2019 must register. This simple step-by-step guide will help you through the process.

1. Registration

2. Provide your details:

• First and Last name
• Email
• Password (You will need to create a password to register for the event)
• School name 
• Year level 
• Phone number (Teachers only) 

3. Select your sessions: See the 'Sessions' tab above to see the abstracts of each session
N.B. Teachers are not required to select sessions. 

 4. Confirm whether we are allowed take photos/video/audio at the event.

• You should have received a talent release form from your teacher, so we can capture all the fun of the event!
• Your parent/guardian will need to give their permission for you to be photographed, so please make sure they have signed the form. 
• You can download another talent release form (DOC 133KB). 
• Once you have your talent release signed, return it to your teacher who will send it to us before the event. 
• Teachers, please email the talent release forms to faculty.marketing@usq.edu.au.

5. If you are a teacher registering for a group of students, you can use the add another registrant button on the last page before hitting submit to register multiple students.

6. Check all of the information you have provided is correct and hit submit. It's that easy! 

7. You should receive a confirmation email to the address you provided with all the details you provided and some more information. 

If you have any enquiries prior to registrations opening, please email Faculty.Marketing@usq.edu.au.