Babcock Australasia hosted twelve students from Coober Pedy Area School at its Osborne operations on Thursday as part of the company’s commitment to inspiring regional students to pursue STEM pathways.
The students and their principal travelled more than 800kms from Coober Pedy to visit Osborne and speak with a broad cross-section of Babcock’s employees about potential career opportunities.
Principal Maurice Saah said students were eager to see behind the scenes of a national organisation.
“This [was] an eye-opening learning experience for our students,” Mr Saah said.
“It’s quite rare for students to experience the inside operations of a large-scale business. I’m hoping it will inspire many of them to dream a little bigger when it comes to their future.”
Osborne is South Australia’s hub of ship building and submarine sustainment, and is home to Babcock’s marine development facilities and headquarters for the Australian Submarine Corporation (ASC).
Babcock Managing Director – Defence Andy Davis said the Osborne team had a full itinerary planned for the students to tour the premises and find out more about the engineering and operations functions of Babcock’s marine business.
“It’s important for students in regional locations to understand the diversity of jobs and opportunities available and to have exposure to potential career pathways during their formative years,” Mr Davis said.
“Our people are genuinely interested in investing in our industry’s next generation and the opportunity to help these students make informed career choices.
“Students heard personal stories from our apprentices, tradesmen, engineers and project managers who talked about how they got started in their various professions.”
South Australian Minister for Education John Gardner said the school visit was a great example of the corporate and education sectors partnering together to set young South Australians on pathways to exciting careers in growth industries like defence and shipbuilding.
“The Coober Pedy Area School tour at Babcock Australasia’s Osborne premises is an example of how we can harness the enthusiasm of the next generation of fitters, storemen, engineers and project managers,” Mr Gardner said.
“These opportunities expose students to career pathways they may not otherwise have considered in Adelaide and further afield, particularly for students in regional locations.”
Babcock holds strong experience delivering marine services, such as infrastructure management, sustainment and technical engineering, to navies and commercial customers in Australia.