FACT SHEET
QUESTACON SMART SKILLS INITIATIVE
INSPIRING AND MOTIVATING YOUNG AUSTRALIANS IS KEY TO
GENERATING A HIGHLY SKILLED WORKFORCE THAT WILL CREATE
TOMORROW’S NEW IDEAS AND GENERATE NEW INDUSTRIES FOR THE
FUTURE.
The newest national initiative from Questacon – The National Science and Technology Centre, the Questacon
Smart Skills Initiative engages young people in design thinking, technology, creativity and innovation.
The Questacon Smart Skills Initiative operates in metropolitan, regional and remote areas across Australia and
incorporates programme elements targeted at students, teachers and the general community. The Initiative is
funded jointly by the Australian Government and The Ian Potter Foundation, with activities delivered
nationally through regional partnerships and digital communications technology.
The Questacon Smart Skills Initiative incorporates a range of programmes including:
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Questacon Maker Project—hands–on workshops for young people exploring the process of innovation.
Questacon Smart Skills programme—a national touring programme for school students that creates an
awareness of technology, engineering and design thinking. This programme also includes teacher
professional development workshops.
Questacon Invention Convention development programme –intensive multi-day workshops that build on
Smart Skills workshops to give students a deeper insight into innovation and entrepreneurship.
Enterprising Australians travelling exhibition— a multimedia-based exhibition that tells the stories of
various Australian products, innovations and the people behind them.
The Questacon Smart Skills Initiative offers a significant skills development pathway for participants. Each step
along the pathway brings greater skill development in design thinking, ideation, prototyping and working with
technologies.
Questacon Maker Project
The Questacon Maker Project offers innovative workshops and events for local and interstate school students
to foster an understanding of the process of innovation and manufacturing. Workshops cover the steps of
innovation, with the themes Think; Make; Try; Refine. Interaction with Questacon’s own exhibit design and
manufacturing staff adds a richness to group visits.
Questacon’s enthusiastic and lively facilitators present hands-on workshops in the Maker Space at The Ian
Potter Foundation Technology Learning Centre, and will also travel to local and regional schools and
community events upon request.
These experiences provide participants with the ability to explore new technologies and processes as they
tinker and develop innovative constructs, solve challenges and generate and refine solutions.
Questacon Smart Skills
A programme of the Initiative, Questacon Smart Skills is a free programme developed for school students that
creates an awareness of technology, engineering and design thinking amongst young Australians.
Using interactive and challenging workshops, Questacon Smart Skills travels regional Australia delivering free
sessions that immerse students in ideas, technology and creativity. By encouraging students to play with
technology and make inventive creations, it engages and challenges them to find the innovator within.
Workshops expose students to the process of innovation and refining their ideas through engineering-based
challenges. These experiences will help to equip them with logical and creative thinking skills to tackle
problems across the curriculum and beyond.
The free Questacon Smart Skills Teacher Workshops are hands-on, collaborative and engaging. They are
designed to complement the Smart Skills student in-school workshops and are suitable for secondary teachers
of science, design and technology and interested Year 6 teachers.
Questacon Smart Skills will be delivered in metropolitan, regional and rural areas, in partnership with local
partner organisations. Questacon Smart Skills and the Questacon Smart Skills Teacher Workshops are
supported by Technology Partner Samsung Electronics Australia.
For Questacon Smart Skills tour information, visit the Questacon website.
Questacon Invention Convention
Each Questacon Smart Skills tour will culminate in a regional Questacon Invention Convention—a three-day
intensive programme run during the school holidays. Questacon Invention Conventions will develop
entrepreneurial skills and confidence in participating students, through innovative activities. The Invention
Convention is delivered with the support of IP Australia.
Students will further investigate the design process and will undertake an ideas forum with local industry and
entrepreneurs to develop solutions to real world problems using existing technology. Questacon Invention
Conventions will be held in regional and remote locations nationally.
Enterprising Australians Travelling Exhibition
Enterprising Australians is a travelling exhibition sharing stories of various Australian products, innovations and
the people behind them, within the context of Australia’s inventive past and present.
Four exhibition modules feature multimedia experiences that showcase the creative development work of
innovative Australians, and highlight the importance of innovation and ideas development to Australia’s
prosperity.
The Enterprising Australians travelling exhibition, supported by IP Australia, tours to regional areas and is a
public link to the Questacon Invention Convention and is also exhibited in the same venue. Enterprising
Australians is exhibited in prominent public locations, such as galleries, libraries and community centres to
maximise broad community engagement. Where possible, stories of innovation from the local area will be
included along with artefacts illustrating these stories.
The Enterprising Australians exhibition will tour in conjunction with the Questacon Smart Skills and Questacon
Invention Convention programmes and will be accessible for a broad audience. Promotion of the exhibition and
school programmes in local communities will raise awareness of the innovation content.
60 Denison St, Canberra
02 6270 2800
Media enquiries:
0439 399 912
media@questacon.edu.au
www.questacon.edu.au
Current as of July 2015 [15099]