Taroom and Wandoan students will make robots rule today as they learn the practical applications of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) topics.

The 30 year-9 students will take part in a Beakers.Bots.Build workshop being run by the Queensland Minerals and Energy Academy (QMEA) at Taroom P-10 State School.

Director of Skills, Education and Diversity for the Queensland Resources Council (QRC) Katrina-Lee Jones said the workshops provide the students with the skills for tomorrow’s labour force.

“With robotics and programming being careers of the future, we are pleased that Glencore Wandoan Coal is helping us bring these valuable skills into the schools,” said Ms Jones.

The event aims to motivate and inspire young minds to follow a pathway into STEM-related careers. They will program a robot to enter a ‘mine site’ and pick up products at three different points, safely and efficiently.

The students will then do some chemical processing, adding water to several substances and extracting a product, while eliminating contaminates and bringing the product back close to its original weight.

And next, in a design engineering exercise, students will build a contraption to launch a coin one meter, under constraints of budget and time. They will be mentored by staff from the Glencore Wandoan Coal Project who will share their study and career experiences.

The QMEA is the education arm of the QRC and is a partnership between the QRC and the Queensland Government under the Gateway to Industry Schools Program.