WA Mining Club supported school-based program STEM unitED has been named as a finalist in the prestigious INCITE Awards for information and communications technology, in the social impact category.
The program launched in March last year uses robotics and drones to promote the use of digital technology to encourage students to develop the skills required for emerging STEM jobs.
The program is operated by Fire Tech, and created in a collaboration between Fire Tech, RUC, WA Mining Club and Platform Communications.
Fire Tech, Managing Director Andrea Conte said he was honoured the STEM unitED program had been recognised.
He said there was a need to educate students on the importance of a career in STEM, especially with the steady decline of students joining and graduating from STEM related disciplines.
“We see an opportunity to encourage future generations to understand why STEM is crucial to their future. According to a recent Foundation for Young Australians report, 75 per cent of all future work roles will require STEM skills. Connecting students to these career opportunities is very important.
“With industries increasingly adopting robotics and drone technology, it is vital that the workforce of the future is well versed in these technical skills and where they can be applied.”
“Support from the funding partners RUC, WA Mining Club, Platform Communications and Fire Tech has enabled us to offer free STEM sessions to low and mid socio-economic status schools,” Mr Conte said.
The INCITE awards, which began in 1991 as the Western Australian Information Technology and Telecommunication Awards, are designed to recognise the brilliance of information, communication, technology and telecommunications in WA.
