Four outstanding year 12 students from Comet Bay College have achieved national success competing in the Subs in Schools Competition, an initiative organised by Re-Engineering Australia and sponsored by the School Pathways Program and the Australian Government Department of Defence.
Team Alia Astra, consisting of Team Manager and Construction Engineer Mari Conradie, Design Engineer Lachlan Stephen, Graphics and Media Manager Connor Siekman and Marketing Manager Aidan Blanchard have reached the remarkable level of placing second in the Australian National Final, being the first Western Australian team to compete at this level.
The competition provides school teams with the opportunity to learn engineering skills and collaborate with industry partners to design and build an original, fully operational underwater ROV.
These students began their journey in year 9, studying the Subs in Schools course at the college. After fine-tuning their skills, they entered the competition in year 10. First entering the challenge at a state level, they were required to work as a team to create a team image and market their product and ideas. Collaboration with members of the engineering community was essential for the completion of the task and students were judged on their engineering skills, ability to create innovative ideas and problem solve, branding and marketing of their product, presentation skills and operation of the ROV in sea trials.
Alia Astra achieved second place in the state final and was invited to represent Western Australia to showcase their remarkable skills at a national level. Along with second place at the national level, these students were successful in winning the Innovation Award, Outstanding Industry Collaboration Award and Best Team Verbal Presentation Award, receiving a perfect score and commendation from the judges for their team presentation skills.