There was an air of excitement around Gladstone this week with nearly 100 local students taking part in drone challenges designed to inspire the next generation of STEM innovators.

The two-day challenge was delivered by the Queensland Minerals and Energy Academy (QMEA) in partnership with ConocoPhillips, the downstream operator of Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG).

The primary school competition that took place on Tuesday was followed by a secondary school competition today at the Yaralla Sports Centre in Gladstone.

Katrina-Lee Jones, Policy Director – Skills, education and diversity, said the primary students from Gladstone West State School, Clinton State School, and Star of the Sea enjoyed their day of hands-on learning, creativity, and drone-flying fun.

“The students embraced the spirit of the day by dressing up in themed costumes, adding colour, energy and a competitive team spirit to the event,” said Ms Jones.

“The drone challenge also included a poster competition to showcase students’ creative ideas about flight and drone technology,” she said.

The primary school drone competition was organised by students from the Toolooa State High School STEM squad.

The excitement continued today with high school students from Calliope State High School, Toolooa State High School, Gladstone State High School, and Chanel College gathering to complete more advanced manual drone piloting challenges and block coding tasks.

Chantale Lane, Stakeholder Relations Manager at ConocoPhillps, said the drone programming and navigation challenge involved a blend of maths and logic.

“The ConocoPhillips team were able to demonstrate real-world examples about how drones are being used in the resources sector and transforming processes like site surveying and pipeline inspections,” said Ms Lane.

“The students had a blast flying the drones and learning how STEM skills can lead to exciting careers.

Workshops like this are all about sparking curiosity and showing students that they can become part of the solution-makers of tomorrow for the resources sector in our region.”

Clinton State School was the winner of the primary school competition Star of the Sea) runners up and Gladstone West receiving an innovation award.

In the secondary competition Chanel College received first place and Gladstone SHS the innovation award.

Click here for photos of the primary school competition

Click here for photos of the secondary school competition