On Thursday 16 September, eighteen Year 9 and 10 students interested in careers in STEM, explored Lot Fourteen.  

Lot Fourteen is a rapidly developing precinct that is making a global impact by accelerating innovation, entrepreneurship, research, education, culture and tourism and provides an exciting environment for organisations from the hi-tech, space, defence and cyber industries.

The Department for Education partnered with Lot Fourteen, DefenceSA, the Australian Cyber Collaboration Centre, the Australian Space Agency, the Aboriginal STEM Congress and the Andy Thomas Space Foundation to present a Careers Expo at Lot Fourteen to engage schools and students in the site and promote careers in the Defence, Space and Cyber industries. 

At the Careers Expo, our students heard about exciting developments at Lot Fourteen, toured the Australian Cyber Collaboration Centre, investigated the Space Discovery Centre, and spoke directly to industry about careers and pathways for defence industry, space and cyber at an interactive session based on Lot Fourteen. 

The students stated that their highlights included:

• “The Cyber Collaboration Centre – I was amazed at the cyber and information security profession opportunities available right here in Adelaide. It was mind-blowing that in one-year, cyber-crimes cost Australian businesses $29 Billion!
• “The Australian Space Discovery Centre. I thought the interactive exhibitions were really engaging. I gained knowledge about space and careers in the industry. This extended my thinking and got me excited about possibilities around STEM”
• “Seeing a mission control centre and the capture the flag setup in the Cyber Collaboration Centre”
• “I enjoyed using the new Student Pathways website launched today. I started the World of Work challenge. I also plan to use the CV Builder part”.

We are very grateful to the sponsors for the opportunity to participate in the Careers Expo. Our students were evidently inspired as they spoke of new, exciting career prospects and their pathway plans to make it a reality.

Tracey Wallace
Service Learning Coordinator