Click here for photos from the drone competition.

It was a case of reaching for the stars, or at least the ceiling, for over 140 young science and technology enthusiasts from around Gladstone this week as they joined forces to participate in a drone competition developed by ‘The STEM Squad’ a group of 17 students from Tooloola State High School.

The drone competition was delivered by the Queensland Minerals and Energy Academy (QMEA) with support from ConocoPhillips Australia, the downstream operator of Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG).

The drone competition was held over two days, with the primary school competition involving 90 students from six schools competing for the top drone crown on Wednesday and a further 50 students from five secondary schools completing their team challenges on Thursday.

The competition was fierce but the two winner schools were: Kin Kora State School (primary) and Redeemer Lutheran College – Biloela (secondary).

Katrina-Lee Jones, Director of Skills, Education and Diversity for the Queensland Resources Council (QRC) said the competition had been designed to test the students’ teamwork, aerial prowess and technology skills.

“In amongst the fun of the competition they are also finding out more about how drone technology is being used in the resources and energy sector,” said Ms Jones.

“Drone technology is having a big impact in our sector and being used to support exploration, safety and sustainability activities,” she said.

“This competition has given the students a taste of what drones and robotics can do and how this connects to their science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) studies in the classroom.”

Stakeholder Relations Manager at ConocoPhillips Australia, Chantale Lane said they were thrilled to be supporting the drone competition with members of their team providing the students with guidance through the challenges.

“Some of these challenges reflect real scenarios, like the supply of logistics or a safety inspection, so it was a real opportunity for our team to share that context with the students,” said Ms Lane.

“There is a big demand for STEM-skilled workers in our industry so we wanted to let them know about the possible exciting careers they could have if they followed a technology study path.”

Thanks to the STEM Squad from Tooloola State High for designing the drone challenges for the competition.

Schools competing in the challenge:

• Primary: Gladstone West SS; Gladstone Central SS; St John’s Catholic Primary School; Star of the Sea: Tannum Sands SS; Kin Kora SS
• Secondary: Redeemer Lutheran College – Biloela, Tannum Sands SHS, Gladstone SHS, Calliope SHS, Chanel College.