Australia’s Leading Sewer Vent Shaft Design, Fabrication & Installation Company
Advanced manufacturing is a key focus for SVSR. We’re a strong supporter of STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) education – and we value our local community. So, we’re very proud to be officially part of the CSIRO STEM Community Partnerships Program (STEM CPP).
As part of the program, we completed a project with Year 9 pupils at Lurnea High School.
It’s the first step in what we see as an ongoing relationship with science teacher Seher Aslaner and her wonderful students. Tracey Cross, School Principal, believes the program has fantastic benefits.
“Future focused teaching and learning encourages critical thinking, creativity, flexibility and problem solving. STEM projects bring together learning areas that are often taught in isolation from each other but that have genuine interconnections.
This project and our partnership with SVSR enabled our students to experience real world workplaces and then apply what they learned to their projects back at school. They were genuinely engaged and we are looking forward to maintaining this relationship into the future.”
Advanced manufacturing and STEM
The future of Australian manufacturing is advanced manufacturing – but that doesn’t just mean cutting-edge technology.
The Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre Ltd (AMGC) recently released a report in which it identified the necessity of advanced education skills, knowledge and processes.
“Every company can and should become more advanced: manufacturing success is not static, nor limited to a few highly technologically advanced companies.
Any Australian manufacturer can leave the trodden path and embark on the journey to advanced knowledge, processes or business models. This could involve hiring more innovation-minded workers or implementing cost-efficient ICT-driven production processes.”
The report identified that the most successful manufacturing companies in the industrialised world have adopted similar strategies of advanced knowledge, advanced processes and/or advanced business models. And crucial for advanced knowledge is more qualified staff – and more with STEM skills.
About the program
Generation STEM is a CSIRO initiative to train and support NSW students in STEM at school and into further education and employment.
The first project under the Generation STEM banner is the STEM Community Partnerships Program. It invites students to participate in STEM inquiry based projects and interact with local STEM businesses.
Designed for Years 9 and 10, the flexible project can involve a range of activities, including mentorships with the STEM Professionals in Schools program, visits to STEM workplaces, work experience and masterclasses.
Why is SVSR a Community Partner?
SVSR believes involvement in the program will be beneficial for both students – and our organisation.
Women make up only 17% of the STEM-qualified population in Australia and yet STEM skills are vital in the jobs market.
So, providing real-world experience and encouragement is crucial.
According to Kylie Ridding, Managing Director of SVSR, there are additional reasons to support this innovative project. “SVSR is a manufacturing business in Liverpool, with an aging workforce. Advanced manufacturing skills are critical to our future, and our team has lots of experience to share. We’re developing resilience, flexibility and diversity in our workers. And one way we can strengthen this is by involving and encouraging younger generations.”
As a parent to a child in Year 10, Kylie also understands the influences on subject selections for Year 11 and 12.
“Not only do you need a great teacher who inspires interest and capability in STEM subjects, but also the opportunity to see practical applications in the real world. This helps nurture enthusiasm to pursue STEM subjects and be equipped for a STEM career.”
Mentoring future generations
As part of this year’s project, the Lurnea High students chose to work on modelling vertical farming structures, as a possible solution for low availability of food in urban areas.
SVSR contributed in a variety of ways… including mentorship.
Duncan Reynolds, Research and Development Manager for SVSR, is passionate about encouraging students’ interest in science – so he is ideal as a STEM project mentor.
As a high school student himself, Duncan was all-round sports champion, and he envisaged a career related to that field. He discovered and developed his passion for science years later and regrets not learning STEM skills during high school.
With Duncan’s warm approachability and ability to simplify complex details, he makes STEM skills interesting… and sparks a curiosity to learn more. Our first outing with the program this year proved popular. According to Seher, the students were “enthusiastic and participating actively throughout the whole duration of the project.”
Embracing innovation
SVSR will continue working with Lurnea High School students through 2020 – and we look forward to providing ongoing mentorship and industry experience. We’ll also continue student interaction beyond the CSIRO STEM Community Partnerships Program.
For the last two years we’ve taken part in the UNSW Maker Games, a student competition run by the University of NSW.
This year, students responded to our challenge and in just 10 weeks developed a potentially life-saving mask for sewer workers in India.
It effectively blocks hazardous gases, is cheap to make and potentially very easy to distribute.
SVSR will continue to work towards sustainability and innovation in sewer vent shaft design, fabrication and installation. If you’d like to join us, please contact us today.
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