MANDURAH high school students mingled with some of science’s greatest minds during National Science Week at the Science Cafe event hosted by UWA on August 25.
Students from Mandurah Catholic College were among a group of 290 students from high schools around Perth at the event to discover careers in technology, engineering and mathematics – known as STEM.
Students were able to expand their minds by grilling mentors from fields such as radioastronomy, health programming, particle physics, plant genetics and disease research during a morning tea.
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READ NOWRun by Scitech, the event was an opportunity for students to think outside the box, Science Cafe co-ordinator Colleen Kleinschmidt said.
“Studying science can lead to an amazing array of careers and Science Cafe helps demonstrate those links by connecting secondary students to professionals from a range of industries,” she said.
“From astrophysicists through to cancer research and plant energy biology, it’s really inspiring to hear what a day in the life of a scientist is actually like and what pathways these people took. And it doesn’t always involve a white lab coat!”
It was held at UWA’s Winthrop Hall with 36 teachers and 75 STEM professionals also attending.
“It’s great to see so many students taking an active interest in STEM when they think about future study or career paths,” she said.
“I think the students leave with a broader perspective because they start to understand what studying science, engineering and maths at school can do for them later.”