On Thursday April 30, four of Macquarie University’s academic staff volunteered their time to help students aspire to ‘A Life in Science.’ SciCon15 was held at Prairewood High School in Southwestern Sydney, one of the University’s partner schools on the LEAP (Learning, education, aspiration, participation) program. SciCon15 aimed to build aspiration towards university education for high school students from mostly low socioeconomic status families.
Its theme, ‘A Life in Science’ framed the approach of the day, in which presenters shared their journeys and passions into their respective fields of science.
The four presentations from Macquarie University academics were delivered by Associate Professor Colin Wastell (The Science of Psychology), Dr Robert Pfeifer (Theoretical and Computational Physics), Keith Motes (Quantum Computing: The Next Generation) and Dr Mridula Sharma (Speech and Hearing).
“I think it was fantastic to be a part of the Science Day at Prairiewood High School” Dr Sharma said “It was a perfect audience of young adults who are looking at career options, and were keen to learn about different fields, vocations, and professions while we, the academics, got to showcase our work.”
Both Macquarie’s Widening Participation Unit and the Faculty of Science and Engineering played an important role in the conference, assisting with the program and organising speakers from the University.
On the day, over 300 students attended from five partially selective high schools across the region. 27 academics, along with government and private industry representatives presented over 40 presentations in six venues across the school.
