A team from Melbourne’s Haileybury school has won the inaugural Lockheed Martin Code Quest Australia programming competition.
The competition saw teams of 2-3 high school students each work together for 2.5 hours to solve challenging problems set by Lockheed Martin engineers and computer programmers.
Fifteen teams from schools in four Australian states and territories descended on Lockheed Martin Australia’s state of the art Endeavour Centre in Canberra on 18 August to compete in the inaugural Australian Code Quest competition.
Forty students and nine coaches from schools in Brisbane, Melbourne, Canberra and Newcastle filled the Endeavour Centre to put their coding skills to the test, but in the end it was the team of Michael Malik and Joseph Tey from Haileybury in Melbourne who walked away with the coveted first prize.
Summus from St Philip’s Christian College in Newcastle won second prize with locals Team Trout from Canberra College third.
Before the competition got underway all the teams had the opportunity to learn about Lockheed Martin innovation and have some hands-on interaction with Lockheed Martin technology.
Behind the scenes, a team of 15 volunteers gave up their Saturday to ensure the competition ran smoothly and that the experience was fun, informative and inspiring for students, coaches and visitors alike.
“It’s a terrific thrill for us in Lockheed Martin Australia to bring the Code Quest competition to Australia for the first time and for so many high school students from around the country, including regional areas, to pursue this science, technology, engineering and maths based competition,” said Lockheed Martin Australia Chief Executive Vince Di Pietro.
“The possibilities of an exciting competition, as well as the window it opens to studies and careers is as inspirational for the students who have made the journey as it is for we volunteers who are delighted to make it possible.
“Advancing STEM and encouraging as many students to tackle it as possible is critical for Australia’s future,” added Vince.
“More collaboration between industry and schools is vital if we’re going to increasing the numbers of students accessing coding so that they understand the skills that are needed for the future workforce,” said Dr Kyi Muller, coach of the winning Haileybury team.
“We’re entering a new generation of technology and the future is in this room. And so, it’s really important the students get that expose and experience because that’s the future of their jobs.”
Code Quest globally is in its seventh year with 629 teams competing at 18 sites.