Digital Technologies

STEM MAD

We are delighted to announce five of our groups from Year 7 and 8 made it through to the finals in the state’s STEM MAD (Make a Difference) competition. Yesterday at MACS (Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools), they presented their projects to the judges with many other schools from around Victoria. We look forward to bringing you the results soon.

It was a great honour to get through to the Victorian finals, and a real testament to the innovative thinking and hard work of all the groups. We were thrilled to have them represent Kilbreda.

The finalists and their inventions are:

Year Level	Group	Project
Year 7	Amelie Baker, Maddie Russell and Aathira Binoy	MyMedSecure: Help Me Buzzer
Year 7	Lily Barclay, Zara Solomon, Rachel Greaney and Larasati Kett	Diabetes Insulin Flap (Making a DiFference)
Year 7	Sophie Chapman, Matilda Exton and Charlotte Bond	Family Pronunciation app: R.E.A.D (Read Easily with Assistance for Dyslexia)
Year 8	Mia Bardis, Zahli Mackay, Chloe Veneris and Ella Kerambrun	Translation Map Navigator App
Year 8	Sienna Diacoyannis, Isha Gurung and Amira Bird	SIA Fidget Toy

Inaugural Kilbreda Women in STEM Lunch

On 19 July, Kilbreda hosted its inaugural Women in STEM Lunch. We invited 11 past pupils, who now study or work in a traditionally low-participation STEM areas for women, to come back and meet with the next generation of young women in STEM. Our current students were chosen from Physics, Specialist Mathematics, Year 10 Programming, Gaming Web Design, Year 11 Applied Computing and Year 12 Data Analytics. Here at Kilbreda, we believe these subjects can provide incredible opportunities and career paths for young women and would love to see higher numbers in these subjects.

Our passionate alumni of STEM students would no doubt agree! We had radiographers, engineers, and students currently studying a range of subjects at university level such as information technology, data analytics/science, cybersecurity, maths and science, all present and eager to talk about their experiences in a panel format. Our current students also had the opportunity to sit with our alumni over a lunch and ask questions about their university and work experiences in a relaxed setting.

All in all, the day was a great success, and a great celebration of Kilbreda’s young women in STEM. I’d like to acknowledge the hard work of our 3 STEM Leaders in preparing for, and presenting on this day: Olivia Tubb, Archer Hoppe and Lakmi Dabare.

Here are just some of the favourite moments from the afternoon from our students:

What was your favourite moment/memory from the STEM Lunch?

“My favourite part of the day was getting to chat openly and extensively about STEM, especially careers and pathways. I also enjoyed a perspective on university that I hadn’t necessarily heard before, including the discussion about the number of units which could be taken each year.”
Hayley Meure
Year 11

“I really enjoyed the STEM lunch. I learnt a lot about different STEM pathways, and different ways to be able to achieve my goal. I felt extremely reassured when multiple speakers told me that it is easy to switch courses if I decide I don’t like my course anymore. I was interested in all the STEM jobs the girls went into, especially when I heard about the radiology job as I really want to go into a job where I am able to help others.”
Bridgette Veneris
Year 10

“During the lunch I enjoyed listening to the different stories of how they got into the courses and how they worked. I also enjoyed how the past pupils could give us advice and tell us about what the data analytics VCE units is about. “
Zali Fixter
Year 10

“The lunch was very cool it was very interesting hearing what people are doing with their lives.”
Ruby Larkins
Year 10

“My favourite part of the lunch was listening to all the past pupils and the careers that these girls were studying and about the pathways they took to get into those courses.“
Caitlyn Singleton
Year 10

“I liked to hear about the past pupils opinions and experiences of university life, and what they enjoy about their courses. It was also good to get the opportunity to interact with other girls in the school who are interested in STEM.“
Roisin Mulholland
Year 10

“My favourite part of the STEM lunch was hearing from the past pupils who are studying or working in STEM fields. They shared their opinions and experiences of university life and what they enjoy about their courses. The lunch also gave us a chance to interact with other students which I thought was a great opportunity.”
Jessica Dolby
Year 10

‘Big Day In’ Excursion

On 20 August, 18 of our students from Year 10 Programming, Gaming and Web Design and Year 11 Applied Computing hopped on the train at Mentone to The University of Melbourne to attend the ‘Big Day In.’ The ‘Big Day In’ is a technology conference that aims to inspire and inform young people about possible careers in ICT and Technology.

“The Big Day in Melbourne was an amazing experience for aspiring young STEM students from Years 10 to 12 to find out the new possibilities and opportunities available to us. There were so many amazing speakers such as representatives from WiseTech Global, The Defence Force, Adobe, Avanade and TCS. All the representatives had their own stalls that we could go and visit during our split snack and lunch breaks. It was very interesting to talk with some of the speakers about the internships and future jobs they offer to do with technology.

My favourite speaker on the day was from the Defence Force because I have a big interest in what they do and am considering a possible job with them. It was interesting to speak with them and they gave us some perspective on what a day in the life was at these companies.”

Georgia Kelly
Year 11