Resources Technology Showcases 2021: Mark McGowan and Roger Cook king of the kids as STEM brought to life

The heavyweights of WA’s mining and energy sectors joined the Premier and Deputy Premier on a tour of the Resources Technology Showcase 2021 event today — and they were blown away by the sight of thousands of students seeing STEM brought to life.

Mark McGowan and Roger Cook stole the show at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre during a whirlwind inspection of the two dozen installations by the world’s biggest resources companies and the businesses that supply them.

Mr McGowan and Mr Cook joined BHP Minerals Australia boss Edgar Basto at the BHP activation, where the Premier won a drink bottle made of sugar cane on the haulpac tyre prize wheel.

They spoke to Roy Hill chief executive officer Gerhard Veldsman at the miner’s stand before watching dozens of children and members of the public at the Gold Industry Group exhibit.

Mr McGowan had a 3D scan taken of his upper body at the WesTrac and Caterpillar stand, where chief executive Jarvas Croome was surprised by the interest children showed in software.

“Kids love the opportunity to jump on machines and see the hardware in action,” he said.

“But the interest in software has been incredible, particularly the 3D scanning and some of the virtual reality opportunities.”

As explosions from Shell’s Supersonic Science demonstration rang out behind them, Mr McGowan and Mr Cook inspected TAFE’s exhibition, which is anchored by a mobile underground mine simulator, before looking at the University of WA stand and patting a robotic dog at the Australian Remote Operations for Space and Earth (AROSE) installation.

They watched visitors have their photos taken on a giant green screen and placed on a mock-up front page of The West Australia newspaper at a stand by Seven West Media, which hosted RTS2021.

Telstra organised a remote rocket launch under the watch of its group executive for product and technology Kim Krogh Andersen and Fugro director Sam Forbes discussed satellite technology before the pair wandered past ERGT’s Sikorsky and students sporting Sentient Computing’s virtual reality googles.

Mr McGowan and Mr Cook then toured the Department of Education STEM hub, where hundreds of students demonstrated their own innovations under a giant cube screen that promoted a competition where schools can win an all-expenses-paid excursion to see Chevron’s Wheatstone LNG plant in the Pilbara.

Rio Tinto iron ore boss Simon Trott discussed the importance of engaging children early.

“These are the kids that are going to be our future mine planners, our future data technicians, our future driving our business as we innovate and think about the future,” he said.

“We’re connecting people with those jobs they want to have when they’re older and jobs of the future, and also where we want to get to as we continue to innovate and change our business, so it’s great to be putting yourself in their shoes and thinking about the future in that way.

“We need to generate interest in our industry but also showcase the things that we do because there’s lots of perceptions about the industry.”

One of the smash hits of RTS2021 was the display put on the Department of Defence, which was a principal sponsor of the event alongside the WA Government.

Mr McGowan had a go on one of the three helicopter simulators that were part of a jaw-dropping activation anchored by an enormous Hawkei military vehicle.

The hundreds of students who filed into the exhibition space via the Woodside experience tunnel, which welcomes schools taking part in the organised excursion program, were astonished to see the Premier walk past them and say hello.

Earlier in the day Fortescue Metals Group chief executive Elizabeth Gaines used her visit to the free two-day exhibition to stress that the industry is now about high-tech, not just high-vis.

“This event is an opportunity to showcase how innovative the mining industry is to Western Australia,” Ms Gaines said.

“Mining is an important part of Western Australia’s economy, and we have the most innovative mining industry in the world.”

INPEX president director of Australia Hitoshi Okawa said his company was thrilled to have children immersed in the resources industry through the showcase.

“Kids get the opportunity to touch and feel new technology at the RTS,” Mr Okawa said.

“Through our virtual reality they feel as if they are actually on the facilities — it’s quite amazing.”

The event finishes today.