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Holy Spirit College proudly display their trophy as inau...
Holy Spirit College proudly display their trophy as inaugural winners of the High School Challenge along with part of the bridge they constructed strong enough to convey a trolley carrying gold ingots | 
| Josh Pallas accepts the trophy on behalf of the winning Holy Spirit C... Josh Pallas accepts the trophy on behalf of the winning Holy Spirit College team from one of the sponsors, Paul Gibbs, of CSC GIS Global Solutions and Technology. President of Wollongong Rotary Club, Mr Malcolm Heard, watches on | 
| Among guests at the High School Challenge are (from left) Mr Roger Ev... Among guests at the High School Challenge are (from left) Mr Roger Evans (electrical engineer consultant), Dr Stephen Pan (UOW), Mr Malcolm Heard (President of Wollongong Rotary), Mr Stephen Petrou (UOW), Professor Gerard Sutton (UOW Vice-Chancellor), Professor Joe Chicharo (Dean of Informatics), Mr Bruce Williamson (Visionstream) and Professor Fazel Naghdy (UOW). Both Mr Evans and Mr Williamson are on the School of Electrical, Computer and Telecommunications Engineering Advisory Committee with Mr Evans as the Chair | 
| Cedars Christian College students (from left) Jessie Baker, Caila Rot... Cedars Christian College students (from left) Jessie Baker, Caila Rothwell and Jaimie Yanez show UOW Vice-Chancellor Professor Gerard Sutton and Wollongong Rotary Club President Malcolm Heard how the ElectraCITY project works | 
| Students undertake the final bridge building project strong enough to... Students undertake the final bridge building project strong enough to carry a trolley laden with gold ingots |
Holy Spirit College wins inaugural High School Challenge
21 Nov 2007 | Bernie Goldie
In a move to help offset the critical shortage of scientists and engineers in Australia, the University of Wollongong today (20 November) hosted the inaugural ‘High School Challenge’ for the Illawarra and South East Region of NSW.
The Challenge was initiated in 2000 by the University of Newcastle. The event is now held nationwide involving more than 10,000 students from several hundred high schools.
The first-ever program to be held in the Illawarra/South East Region was jointly hosted by UOW’s School of Electrical, Computer and Telecommunications Engineering, the Rotary Club of Wollongong, Engineers Australia and the University of Newcastle.
Today’s event attracted 224 Year 10 students from seven Illawarra high schools with 32 students coming from each of the schools. The 32 students from each school were given eight project tasks to choose from with four students working on their choice of activities. Year 10 students have been chosen as these students are poised to make their subject choice selections for the critical final two years of their schooling.
Organisers are already planning to expand the scope of the Challenge for 2008 (possibly to be held in late June) with schools also expected to compete from southern Sydney, the South Coast and Southern Highlands.
The participating schools were provided with the building materials they needed to undertake their different projects which ranged from developing a system simulator to power the different needs of energy users, developing a code for fellow commandos to transmit messages that the enemy cannot detect, building an air cannon, assembling a buggy to use on the Planet Mars, designing and building a new evacuation hovercraft for the International Antarctic Research Station and building a bridge strong enough to transport a mine trolley full of gold.
The Rotary Club of Wollongong said it was enthusiastic in supporting community initiatives which helped youth in the region.
The club said the ‘Challenge’ was unique in the way it targeted Year 10 students creating an awareness of the potential career opportunities in the engineering field.
It said the ‘Challenge’ was also a great opportunity for community groups such as Rotary to work with local businesses and education providers ensuring youth in the region have the opportunity to gain skills and interest in professional fields that provide real career options.
Dr Bob Nelson, Director of National Challenge Operations, said today’s Challenge was probably the most hotly-contested of all the competitions held in Australia. Cedars Christian College came in second and Smith’s Hill High School came in third.
Sponsoring the Challenge was CSC GIS Global Solutions and Technology, Wollongong City Council, Illawarra Regional Development Board, Andrew Corporation, Integral Energy, BlueScope Steel, Roads and Traffic Authority, the National Australia Bank and the Integral Energy Power Quality and Reliability Centre.
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