Click here for workshop photos.

Science students at Wandoan and Taroom State Schools had a first today, participating in a new physics workshop delivered by the Queensland Minerals and Energy Academy (QMEA), the education arm of the Queensland Resources Council (QRC).

The workshop focused on energy transformation, including the role of natural gas, the national electricity market and involved experiments with model hydrogen cars and wind turbines.

The new physics workshop was made possible with the generous sponsorship of Senex Energy and enabled the Year 9 and 10 students to spend the day immersing themselves in the energy sector.

The physics workshop blended information about the electricity market with practical experiments giving the students a greater understanding of the science behind the generation of energy.

Senex Energy’s Community Relations Manager, Trevor Robertson, said they were excited to sponsor the first QMEA physics workshop to be delivered in the region.

“The generation, transportation and storage of energy is a big topic and particularly relevant to students given the prevalence of natural gas and renewables in the Western Downs region being used to meet Australia’s energy needs,” said Mr Robertson.

“Experienced Senex team members, Joel Zimmerman and Liam Darby, joined the workshop to guide students and answer questions about the energy industry and potential careers,” he said.

“Senex hopes the workshop sparked the students’ interest in studying STEM subjects and applying for the Senex STEM Surat Basin scholarship.”

QRC Director of Skills, Education and Diversity, Katrina-Lee Jones said the new workshop was developed to highlight local operations while expanding on elements in the Australian science curriculum.

“The workshop will give students a better understanding of the range of energy sources available to power homes and sustain industries like manufacturing, agriculture and other commercial ventures,” said Ms Jones.

“The students had time today to fully investigate how the National Electricity Market (NEM) functions and experiment with models of energy sources.”

For more information on career pathways leading to the energy sector visit: shapeyourfuture.com.au