Key points
- Don’t forget to use our campaign hashtag #WithSTEMYouCan
- Industry professionals will deliver interactive workshops and presentations.
- Hear from a range of STEM professionals about their career journeys, key learnings, and top tips for being successful in STEM.
#WithSTEMYouCan Careers Expo key event details
Wednesday 5 August, 2026
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 8:30 - 9:45am | Event bump in |
| 10:00am - 1:40pm | Expo in action. |
| 1:40 - 3:00pm | Event bump-out |
| Location | Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre 30 Herbert St, Cambridge Park, NSW |
| Transport | Participating schools will have their transport organised by the Generation STEM team. |
| Parking | Ample parking available onsite. |
*Schedule subject to change prior to event.
About Generation STEM and the #WithSTEMYouCan Career Expo:
#WithSTEMYouCan is a STEM specific Careers Expo that will provide students with access to businesses that offer STEM careers in their local community. They will be able to ask questions, discuss next education pathway steps and learn more about the varied career paths they could move into.
The aim is to inspire local Years 7 - 10 students into STEM pathways and showcase the exciting career opportunities available at their doorstep.
#WithSTEMYouCan Careers Expo Event Schedule
The #WithSTEMYouCan Career Expo is broken into five main sessions beginning at 10:10 AM. After an introduction by Amazon and the Welcome to Country by Rhiannon Wright, students move into their pre-allocated groups and rotate between four different spaces over the five sessions.
Over the five sessions students rotate between the:
- Expo Hall: students have a chance to interact with our STEM industries over a double session.
- Workshop: students are split into one of seven different workshops hosted by our STEM professionals (see below for more information).
- Interactive Presentations: STEM professions present to a group of students about various topics including their personal career pathway, and/or their STEM industry.
- Meal Break: students refuel and take a brain break.
| Time | Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D | Group E | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8:45 - 9:45am | Exhibitor bump -in | ||||||
| 9:30 -10:00am | Schools arrive | ||||||
| 10:00 - 10:10am | Welcomes and acknowledgements (Grandstand hall) | ||||||
| 10:10 - 10:15am | Students transition to session #1 | ||||||
| 10:15 - 10:45am | EXPO HALL | WORKSHOP | PRESENTATION | MEAL BREAK | EXPO HALL | ||
| 10:45 - 10:50am | Students transition to session #2 | ||||||
| 10:50 - 11:20am | EXPO HALL | EXPO HALL | WORKSHOP | PRESENTATION | MEAL BREAK | ||
| 11:20 - 11:25am | Students transition to session #3 | ||||||
| 11:25 - 11:55am | MEAL BREAK | EXPO HALL | EXPO HALL | WORKSHOP | PRESENTATION | ||
| 11:55 - 12:00pm | Students transition to session #4 | ||||||
| 12:00 - 12:30pm | PRESENTATION | MEAL BREAK | EXPO HALL | EXPO HALL | WORKSHOP | ||
| 12:30 - 12:35pm | Students transition to session #5 | ||||||
| 11:35 - 1:05pm | WORKSHOP | PRESENTATION | MEAL BREAK | EXPO HALL | EXPO HALL | ||
| 1:05 - 1:10pm | Students transition to panel discussion | ||||||
| 1:10 - 1:40pm | Student panel discussion. Exhibitors: lunch will be delivered and bump-out begins. | ||||||
| 1:40 - 2:00pm | Schools depart | ||||||
| 1:40 - 3:00pm | Exhibitor bump-out | ||||||
*Schedule subject to change prior to the event.
| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D | Group E |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Camden High School | Malek Fahd Islamic School | Wyong High School | Cerdon College | Elderslie High School |
| Amity College Prestons | Al Noori Muslim School | Central Coast Sports College | Evans High School | Xavier High School |
| Liverpool Boys High School | Punchbowl Boys High School | St Mary Star of the Sea | St John Paul II Catholic College | Fairvale High School |
| Casula High School | Belmore Boys High School | Marian Catholic College | Norwest Christian College |
Map
*Note: this map is subject to change at any time prior to the event.
Transport and parking
Enter via the Herbert St driveway and park in the car park. The venue has also provided overflow parking accessible via the driveway next to the sports centre venue.
Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre is located 2.3 km from Kingswood Train Station. Buses from Kingswood Train Station to the Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre include the 780, 782 and 785. To plan your trip, please visit Transport for NSW website.
#WithSTEMYouCan Workshops
Industry professionals will deliver interactive workshops from 10:10 AM to 01:10 PM. Teachers will have allocated students top each of the workshops, prior to attending the event. Students should refer to their timetable and wristband colour for more information about their allocated workshop.
Workshop 1 hosted by Amazon
Amazon Robotics: Simulated Warehouse Mission
Can you code a robot to complete an Amazon-inspired warehouse mission? In this hands-on challenge, you’ll guide a robot through a simulated fulfilment centre, collect a “pod” and deliver it to the right place by programming, testing and improving your robot’s route.
Workshop 2 hosted by Sydney Water
Discover Water Management with Sydney Water- It's Complex!
Join Sydney Water, Australia's largest water utility, for an interactive workshop exploring how water moves around our city. You will discover the urban water cycle through hands-on activities, quizzes and true or false challenges, learning how drinking water, wastewater, recycled water and stormwater travel through over 50,000 km of pipes serving 5.5 million customers. Explore real challenges like fatbergs, smart sensor technology and purified recycled water innovation. Participants will also uncover diverse STEM career pathways at Sydney Water, from engineering and environmental science to digital analytics, education and communications.
Workshop 3 hosted by Defence Science and Technology Group
What floats your boat?
What does it take to float a boat? In this workshop, students will engage with the concept of buoyancy, and engineer model vessels in a competition to make the best design.
Workshop 4 hosted by Red Blood Comic
Let’s Translate this Article!
Health information is often communicated using such complex languages. In this workshop, students will be invited to try different method of communicating medical information by creating their own comic strip!
Workshop 5 hosted by University of Sydney - Faculty of Engineering
Bone Cements: Fixing the Body’s Framework
When bone is damaged, it needs a special cement that living tissue can accept, just like fixing a broken vase with missing pieces. In this hands-on activity, you’ll create your own bone cement that mimics the hard part of bone and explore what makes a material safe and effective for medical implants. Along the way, you’ll see how biomedical engineers design materials that help.
Workshop 6 hosted by CSIRO: Technology
AI Detectives: How Smart is AI Really?
AI is changing the way people work, learn and solve problems across almost every industry. In this interactive workshop, students will step into the role of AI engineers and data scientists to explore how artificial intelligence learns from data, why it sometimes gets things wrong, and how human choices shape the technology we use every day. Through hands-on challenges, students will discover how AI is used in careers ranging from science and healthcare to education and engineering, while considering how we can build AI systems that are fair, inclusive and responsible.
Workshop 7 hosted by Team Global Success
Powering the Future: Explore an Electric Truck
Step inside the future of transport and get an up-close look at a fully electric delivery truck. Students will explore how an electric truck differs from a traditional diesel vehicle, including its battery, charging system and regenerative braking technology. They will learn how electric trucks can help reduce emissions, noise and fuel use, while hearing about the different careers involved in operating, maintaining and supporting an electric fleet.
Workshop 8 hosted by Western Sydney University
Science for Food!
Food Science brings together physical, chemical, biological, human nutrition as well as medical science, and is a key aspect of environmental sustainability, all of which offers limitless career opportunities across the world. Using the chemical and physical properties of food, you can develop new ways to enhance flavour, nutritional and medical value, develop better products and processing as well as storage.
You can use this knowledge to enhance more sustainable practices and support optimal dietary intake. Assessing sugar, acid and water content in food is a critical step to managing the science that surrounds human nutrition and diet selection. Application of this scientific information is critical to help us manage microbial populations that can either value-add or de-value food. Be prepared to use scientific equipment to analyse the food you eat and learn how to use science to support decision making in food production.
#WithSTEMYouCan Interactive Presentations
| Presentation | Overview |
|---|---|
|
Presentation #1 Presented by Farheen Amjad from ORATEL Network Solutions. |
The Engineering Mindset: How to Learn Anything!Success in STEM is not about being the smartest person in the room- it’s about learning how to learn. In this interactive session, students will explore the engineering mindset and discover how scientists, engineers, and innovators approach new challenges. Through engaging activities and real-world examples, students will learn the simple cycle used across STEM fields: Observe → Try → Fail → Improve → Repeat. They will leave with practical tools to tackle problems, build resilience, and develop the confidence to learn new skills both inside and outside the classroom. |
|
Presentation #2 Presented by Cherry Agustin from Radiation Oncology Network, Western Sydney Local Health District. |
A Career in Radiation Therapy: The Role of Radiation Therapists in Cancer Treatment.Radiation therapists play a vital role in the care of cancer patients, using advanced technology to deliver precise and effective treatment. If you’re passionate about making a meaningful difference in people’s lives and thrive in a collaborative, dynamic team environment then consider a career in radiation therapy. |
|
Presentation #3 Presented by Anthony Donoghue from Weir Minerals. |
From Farm to FoundryPresenting my journey so far. Where I've been, where I'm at and how I fell into a STEM career. Discussing my passion for pattern making / what it is and how the trade is ever-present in our lives. |
|
Presentation #4 Presented by Rob Hollow from CSIRO: Space & Astronomy |
Working in Space!Want to work in the space industry? We’ll challenge your perceptions and explore the diverse range of careers open to people working in Australia's growing space and astronomy. |
|
Presentation #5 Presented by Sana Syed from Australian Astronomical Optics at Macquarie University |
How STEM supports our Understanding of the UniverseDiscover how science, technology, engineering, and mathematics come together to design and build the telescopes and instruments that reveal the secrets of our universe. |
Your Host
Shane Hengst, PhD, Industry Education Officer, CSIRO
Shane Hengst is a CSIRO Education Project Officer who works to connect industry with education programs, supporting students to discover how STEM links to real-world careers and helping STEM professionals engage with young people. He holds a PhD in Astrophysics, where he modelled how dust moves around stars to better understand planetary evolution.
With over 15 years of experience in education, teaching, and community engagement, Shane is passionate about making science engaging, relevant, and accessible. He has extensive experience working in planetariums and within the Australasian planetarium community, designing and delivering immersive education experiences, as well as teaching at university and tuition colleges. His work with schools and communities aims to inspire curiosity and confidence in STEM.
Panelists:
Paige Newton, Capital Engineering Associate, Lyka
Paige is a Capital Engineering Associate at Lyka Pet Food, focusing on industrial engineering within the pet food industry, including project coordination, equipment commissioning, and automation evaluation. She is currently completing a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering at UNSW, where her thesis involves developing a digital twin to optimise production line performance through automation and process improvements.
Her engineering journey began with an interest in biomedical engineering through a year-long project with UNSW Engineering’s Assistive Tech Hub. As part of the manufacturing team, she helped develop a process to convert recycled plastic bottles into 3D-printed custom orthotics for children in low-resource communities. The project won both the People’s Choice Award and the Pitch Competition Award at the UNSW Engineering Education Festival and was later showcased at the Australasian Association for Engineering Education Conference.
Since then, her interests have shifted towards manufacturing and automation, the often unseen engineering behind everyday products and processes.
Dr Thai Ly, Experimental Scientist, CSIRO
Dr Thai Ly is a scientist at CSIRO Mineral Resources who develops magnetic resonance (MR) sensors that help measure minerals in real time at mining sites. Her passion for science began in high school, where inspiring teachers encouraged her curiosity about the natural world, and David Attenborough documentaries sparked her fascination with science.
In Year 12, Thai received a scholarship to study a double degree in Materials Science and Engineering and a Master of Biomedical Engineering. Through her studies, she gained valuable research experience at North Carolina State University in the United States, as well as with Cochlear and CSIRO in Australia.
While working at CSIRO, Thai discovered her passion for magnetic resonance technology, which led her to complete a PhD. Today, she leads projects that are helping bring MR analysers into the mining industry. Her work has taken her from laboratories in Sydney to mine sites and international conferences, showing how curiosity can lead to exciting opportunities and a global STEM career.
Our sponsors
