Oakey State High School students will be propelled into careers of the future in a workshop today that will develop their skills in design and complex thinking.

Run by the Queensland Minerals and Energy Academy (QMEA), the workshop will have students designing and building self-propelled devices, programming Lego robots and using science to explore how best to extract natural gas.

“This is a great opportunity for students to develop complex thinking and problem-solving skills, which have been identified as skills needed in the future workforce,” said Oakey State High School’s Principal Danny Keenan.

“Being digitally literate is also becoming increasingly important and through exposure to technologies like robots and programming we are helping to prepare students for a changing workforce,” he said.

“New Hope is a proud supporter of QMEA and we see the value it brings in opening students’ eyes to STEM-related careers,” said New Acland Coal General Manager Dave O’Dwyer.

“Many of these occupations are available at our operations in their home towns and it’s great to be able to offer rewarding careers that mean they can stay in or return to their communities.”

“There are many careers available in the resources sector, which is part of the Oakey community, and our hope is that these workshops will open students’ eyes to the variety of occupations available locally, which will enable them to remain in their home towns,” said Katrina-Lee Jones, Director Skills Education and Diversity with the Queensland Resources Council (QRC).