The future is looking promising for the Australian red meat processing industry with more than 45 students attending the Meat-Tech Futures camp at the University of Southern Queensland last month.
Funded by AMPC and the Queensland Government, the two-day camp offered participants an innovative educational experience developed by IntegratedSTEM, AgTech education specialists, and industry stakeholders.
The event included a site tour at JBS Beef City, masterclass workshops with STEM professionals, and a research and development ‘shark tank’ where the students pitched their own ideas in front of their peers, parents, and a panel of industry judges.
AMPC Program Manager Amanda Carter said, “AMPC worked closely with IntegratedSTEM to deliver an event that would build awareness of the variety of tech-related career opportunities available to the next generation of workers.”
“There is significant investment into the development of technologies and automation to increase the efficiency and profitability of the red meat processing industry, and now we need to look at attracting new talent that can adopt and advance this innovation.”
IntegratedSTEM Founder and Robotics Engineer Fraser Border said, “For this project, we focused on targeting tech-minded grade 10 to grade 12 students.”
“This approach recognises that attracting and nurturing talent at an early age is essential to building a skilled workforce with the goal of providing an unforgettable experience that changes the perceptions of red meat processing.”
Amanda said, “I was extremely impressed by how quickly the students were able to identify key industry issues and pull together a research and development pitch within two days.”
“Some of the ideas they pitched were technologies that we have already commenced research on or have considered exploring in the future.
“Feedback we received from the students, teachers, and parents that attended the event was promising.
“Ninety-five per cent of attendees said they had a positive introduction to the industry while 97 per cent of attendees said the event deepened their understanding of technology careers in red meat processing.”
AMPC and IntegratedSTEM are looking at rolling out the event in as many locations as possible over the next 12 months.
Watch a recap of the event at the IntegratedSTEM YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NF3YRikzTb8&t=1s
If you would like more information or to get involved with the program, reach out to AMPC Program Manager Amanda Carter at a.carter@ampc.com.au