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St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School students will have a headstart on the high-tech careers available in the resources sector when they learn to program a mini-autonomous vehicle today.

The girls are taking part in a Resourceful Robots event run by the Queensland Minerals and Energy Academy (QMEA), the education arm of the Queensland Resources Council (QRC).

“Autonomous vehicles are part of the changing face of resources, which is a heavily technology-based sector,” said Katrina-Lee Jones, Director Skills and Education with the QRC.

“And, we need people with science technology engineering and maths (STEM) skills to take up the many STEM-based careers available with us,” she said.

“It’s particularly important that girls are encouraged to continue STEM studies and be exposed to the many STEM-based careers available to them.

“Our sector would like to see them fill the skills shortages we have in occupations such as engineering and trades.

“Opportunities abound in our sector, which has recorded record employment of 85,000 people in Queensland (according to the ABS), even through the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

St Margaret’s Principal Ros Curtis said the workshop would help put the students’ studies into a real-world perspective.

“This is an engaging and valuable aid to learning,” she said.

“It’s also another experience for the students to add to their understanding of the broad range of careers available to them.”

As Australia’s largest and most successful industry-led education and skills training initiative, the QMEA seeks to broaden student and teacher knowledge of career opportunities in resources.

The academy encourages a talent pipeline of employees into VET and STEM-related careers, with a focus on female and Indigenous participation. The QMEA currently engages with 80 schools and is a partnership between the QRC and the Queensland Government under its Gateway to Industry Schools program.

Media Contact: Caroline Morrissey  0417 770893 or Carolinem@qrc.org.au