Welcome to the South Australian Node of the Australian National Fabrication Facility
Brighton Secondary School partnership delivers competitive edge
2017_09
A global STEM-focused school educational program has cemented an exhilarating partnership between Brighton Secondary School and the Australian National Fabrication Facility (ANFF-SA), based at the University of South Australia’s Mawson Lakes campus.
Translating classroom theory into practice, Brighton Secondary School’s enthusiasm to design, build and race their own scale model F1 has seen them become regular high performers in the global Formula 1 in Schools program.
Determined to better understand the engineering and production processes and take their project to the next level, the inspired ‘Spectrum’ team sought an innovative industry partner with specialist knowledge and they reached out to the ANFF-SA.
With a background in Formula 1, ANFF-SA’s micro-machining specialist Mark Cherrill has become a unique and valuable team mentor, offering crucial expertise on aerodynamics and mechanical manufacturing.
Brighton Secondary School teacher Finn Galindo said the ANFF-SA partnership offered students a great ‘collaborative safety net’ with industry professionals willingly sharing their expertise.
“Programs that are truly STEM-based always rely on industry to enable in-depth real-world learning experiences and organisations like ANFF-SA play a key role in inspiring students, who are our future workforce, to tackle the problems of tomorrow, today,” said Finn.
“Mark’s advice helped to initiate the student’s critical thinking processes involving complex solutions,” said Finn. “His constructive reviews of their design ideas enabled the students to not only better understand the design, engineering and production processes but refine or adapt their methods for improved solutions.”
Finn said that Mark’s input was integral to the student’s design development. His help in clarifying the engineering process assisted the engineering team to refine their designs and back the developments with thorough fact-based testing.
“The critical thinking processes that Mark developed with the students impacted their designs and led to their success at the national competition and these will be used in future design developments leading up to the world competition,” said Finn.
Dr Craig Priest, SA Node Director of the Australian National Fabrication Facility said ANFF-SA is proud to collaborate with Brighton Secondary School students and help develop Australia’s future innovators.
“ANFF-SA’s partnership with Brighton Secondary School offers a unique opportunity for students who are passionate about expanding their knowledge of world-class engineering solutions,” said Dr Priest. “It enables ANFF-SA to directly support STEM in schools and nurture students who demonstrate a exceptional flare for a future career in the technology economy.”