As National Skills Week kicked off, Komatsu Australia has launched a program which will help develop young talent and showcase the diverse range of opportunities available in the mining and construction sectors around the country.
The program targets school and university students and recent school leavers and will include initiatives like promoting STEM directly through schools, technical workshops and seminars tailored to students and educators, work experience and placements throughout Komatsu and partnering with educational organisations to help develop curriculums and hands-on learning experiences to raise awareness of the roles and opportunities available.
Zara Carey, Komatsu Australia’s General Manager for People Experience, says the program will help prepare the next generation of industry leaders with the skills they need for a future in heavy equipment or mining.
“Often people think the only jobs available in heavy industries are for mechanics or service technicians, but as our sector embraces more technology and innovative solutions, our workforce is shifting, too. We’re seeing a stronger focus on STEM opportunities, and we want to demonstrate this variety of career options available to the youth of today,” she says.
“Komatsu is a unique workplace as we offer multiple pathways for employment. You might start in a hands-on role, but often can shift sideways or upwards to a more managerial or technical role, such as analytics engineering, data science or software development. This is what we want our youth program to promote, that there are different opportunities out there that school leavers might not know of, and Komatsu could just be the place for you.”
To mark the launch of the program and the start of National Skills Week, which runs from August 19th– 23rd Komatsu has partnered with educational organisation STEM Punks to deliver a workshop for students in years 7-9 where they got to learn about autonomous vehicles and the data and technology that drives them, testing it in real time with simulations and challenges.
“We’ve started and ended National Skills Week with these two workshops at our Innovation Hub in Brisbane. The students will get to learn about sensor systems, wireless communication, cloud data, and Komatsu’s intelligent Machine Control (iMC), and how to code and apply these new skills to control a robot platform.
“We’re excited to offer this program in partnership with STEM Punks, and to get our wider youth program underway throughout National Skills Week, as we look to support a future workforce equipped with the technology and skills they need to progress in their careers,” Zara says.