Ballarat to Host Top Scientific, Creative, and Inventive Minds

STUDENTS from across Victoria have participated in Science & Engineering Challenge days.

Rotary Clubs in Horsham, Churchill, Sale, Burwood, Bendigo, Warrnambool, Geelong, and Ballarat have hosted local teams, encouraging them to engage in various STEM activities.

Now, local Rotary clubs are preparing to welcome the top-performing school teams to Ballarat, aiming to discover the most innovative and creative minds in the state. The schools which have qualified include Leongatha Secondary College, Gippsland Grammar, St Arnaud Secondary College, Auburn High School, Oberon High School and Bendigo South East College.

St Patrick’s College won the Ballarat Regional Challenge but are unable to attend the final. Second placed Ballarat Grammar will now represent our region.

“The boys did an excellent job in approaching each challenge with a sense of teamwork and positivity,” said James Russell, head of science at St Pat’s.

“The program allowed our students to demonstrate their classroom learning in a practical setting with real-world context. Everyone is ecstatic about the result, and we were looking forward to representing Ballarat well within the upcoming State Finals.”

The challenges not only demand innovation and creativity but also require significant teamwork and cooperation.

Teams will tackle two all-day problems: the Bridge challenge involves constructing a light yet strong model bridge capable of supporting a trolley carrying ‘gold’ ingots across a test rig.

In the Eco-Habitech challenge, students must design an ecologically friendly house meeting specific criteria, including withstanding an industrial-strength fan and supporting various weights.

Half-day activities include:

Confounding Communication: Designing codes to transmit secret messages along fibre-optic rods using pulses of coloured light.

Electra-city: Finding the lowest-cost electricity solution for the city’s infrastructure using the most efficient pathways while considering cable costs and resistance.

Fish Traps: Utilising 3D-printed rocks to set up collection points for various sizes of “fish,” represented by marbles, tackling scenarios that aim to catch specific quantities and sizes of “fish.”

Rotary Club members are eager to welcome the competing students and set up the challenges in a new venue. Although the Caro Convention Centre provided by event partner Federation University was unavailable for the State Final date, the organising committee has secured the Ballarat High School gym for the Final on September 3rd.

“We’ve never set up the challenges in one large space, so we’ll be facing our own interesting challenge in determining where each activity will be placed,” said Deb Robertson from Alfredton Rotary.

“It is incredibly exciting to host the State Final in Ballarat for the first time, and I can’t wait to see how the different school groups approach each activity.”

SEC event sponsors, including Service Stream, MK Pro Engineering, McCain Australia, the Rotary Op Shop in Sebastopol, Alfredton Rotary, Wendouree Breakfast Rotary, Central Highlands Water, Integra, CE Bartletts, and Gestalt Engineers, have generously continued their support for the State Final.

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