Six high schools came together at the Inverell RSM club recently to participate in this year's Sapphire City Science and Engineering Challenge.
This was the first challenge to be held after a long break owing to COVID-19 restrictions.
Students competed in seven different activities covering aspects of the Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) focus areas.
A total of 165 students from across the region represented secondary schools from Geln Innes, Inverell, Warialda and Tenterfield.
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"Participants were very engaged in their activities and enjoyed themselves working out problems as a team in a hands-on experience," said Inverell Rotarian Greg Moran.
The Science and Engineering Challenge is a national program running Challenge Days (for high school students) and Discovery Days (for primary school students) across every state and territory in Australia.
The event is run by the Challenge team from the University of Newcastle, who travel throughout NSW and Australia.
The local event was organised by Inverell Rotary Club and then assisted by Inverell East, Warialda and Glen Innes Rotary Clubs.
"Our Challenge was also assisted by Engineers Australia, the Office of the Chief Scientist NSW and Atlasium by way of sponsorship and the RSM who kindly donated the area for the event," said Mr Moran.
Our vision is to inspire every Australian school student to create a future in science and engineering.
- University of Newcastle
Whilst there is an element of competitiveness, the main aim of the day is to promote science, maths and technology as interesting areas of study and ultimately a career choice.
Eight different, intriguing and thought-provoking activities kept the students working in teams with various hands-on activities such as building a hovercraft, working out and sending codes, building a bridge and creating a bionic hand.
Students are given a score for each activity, and there is an overall winner on the day.
The schools with the highest scores were Glen Innes High in the first place and Holy Trinity in Inverell came second.
Newcastle University says through the provision of meaningful, hands-on experiences it aims to inspire more young people to make a difference in the world by choosing a career in science and engineering.
