RMIT Unmanned Aerial Systems Workshop
During September, the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) Aerial Systems Workshop was held. The guest speakers were Simon Watkins, Vanessa Wong and Kimberley Bull. Vanessa, a Mac.Rob alumni and 4th-year Aerospace Engineering student, and Kimberely, a 3rd-year Manufacturing and Mechatronics student, first introduced themselves, describing some of their high-school experiences, final ATAR, and reasons for having selected their course. The speakers delivered explanations of the RMIT Uncrewed Aircraft Systems (UAS) Research Team, past research projects, Formula SAE, HIVE and the RMIT Rover Team.
After introductions, we were split up into three groups for ‘speed dating’. We were assigned one guest speaker per group and would rotate every 10 minutes. During this time, we were allowed to ask questions about anything that sparked our curiosity. Unfortunately, only two rounds were able to be held due to a lack of time. The first guest speaker I was assigned to was Kimberely. Some of the topics we discussed were: what students do in different areas of engineering, what you can expect at RMIT.
For the next rotation, I was assigned to Simon, a lecturer at RMIT. He explained how he had set up RMIT Racing. RMIT Racing is a team that designs and builds open-wheel racing cars and had won the FISITA Formula Student World Cup and the American FSAE competition. Furthermore, during this time he introduced us to the concept of ‘slippery’ cars, how to design an electric racing car to ensure the safety of the rider and the possibility of electric racing cars being mass-produced and sold to the general public.
Overall, the workshop was an extremely informative event that answered some of my and many others’ queries concerning tertiary schooling. Being in year 10 and daunted by the overwhelming number of university courses, this was a refreshing outlook on a career path I had only minimally considered in the past.
Hannah P, 10A