Pannawonica Primary School were just one of 26 primary schools in the Pilbara who this past term have been taught robotics, coding and automation skills as part of the rollout of the Resources Challenges: Automation Pilot.
Year 5 and 6 students across the region learnt how to code their robots which represented either autonomous haul trucks, drills and underwater vehicles or drones across maps that represent scenarios that are faced by the State’s resources sector.
Industry representatives assisted teaching the concepts and shared their career journeys through short online videos set in the challenges.
CME CEO, Paul Everingham said, “the resources sector is at the forefront of innovation and technology and with both moving so quickly it’s important to ensure that today’s students are equipped with the skills for the jobs of tomorrow”.
The Resources Challenges: Automation Pilot was funded and developed through the Pilbara Collaboration Charter, signed by the Premier, CME and members BHP, Chevron Australia, CITIC Pacific Mining, Fortescue Metals Group, Rio Tinto Ore, Roy Hill, Woodside and Yara Pilbara.
If the Pilot is successful, it could then be rolled-out to students from pre-primary to year 10 across WA, as well as other Digital Technology courses in automation and data analysis.
