Adele Hay, WSP Civil Engineer and Pathways Office Lead says, “The evening was a great opportunity for our young professionals to connect with industry peers in both junior and senior positions. We were all captivated by guest speaker Jodie Bricout, Circular Economy Manager at lifecycles, who shared her experience, research and case studies (from home and abroad) to highlight the potential benefits of a more circular economy in South Australia.”
The evening also served as a platform to celebrate the success of Team Aurora in the WSP-sponsored Formula 1 (F1) in Schools Technology Challenge. The program which was held in Malaysia this year is the world’s largest secondary school Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Competition involving over nine million students from 17,000 schools in 31 nations. Students design, test and make miniature F1 cars capable of reaching speeds up to 80 km/h.
David Cruickshanks-Boyd, WSP National Director, Sustainability says, “The F1 in Schools program is a terrific initiative for us to be involved in. As a sponsor of the program, we support this competition because it is a holistic action learning program that focuses on developing long-term employability skills in STEM. Students learn leadership, team building, project management, business planning, public speaking, marketing, collaboration, writing and presentation skills – all of which are essential in our business.”
On the night, we were joined by Team Aurora who were runners-up for the second year in a row and winners of the International Collaboration Team Award.
Team Aurora is comprised of students from Brighton High School in Adelaide as well as students from a school in Germany.
Adele concludes, “Team Aurora made a great impression on everyone in the room. We heard about their amazing experiences and what they did to be so successful. The team’s presentation contributed to what was a great night and hopefully in return, we made a good impression on them to pursue careers in STEM.”