Powered by the Faculty of Engineering and IT, the UTS Tech Festival is a celebration of everything technology, creativity, and innovation. The festival brought together students, industry partners, staff, and fellow tech enthusiasts on campus across a jam packed program.
Hear from some of the organisers and attendees in the video below:
In this post, we chat to Marc Carmichael (Senior Lecturer, School of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering) and Nic Surawski (Senior Lecturer, Environmental Engineering) about student showcases at the festival.
Marc Carmichael, organiser of the Robotics Showcase
I led the Robotics Showcase, a celebration of awesome robotics projects and initiatives coming out of UTS.
What were some of the interests/themes covered in your event?
We had a wide array of student projects on display, ranging from students early in the degree, right through to final year students demonstrating their capstone projects. Projects ranged from software and AI, to mechanical design. My favourite was Spot, our resident robot dog, that couldn’t help but stretch its legs during the showcase.
What would you like for attendees to take away from your event?
Many of the student robotics projects were the result of research-integrated teaching or from collaborations with industry. These opportunities can be challenging to facilitate but can lead to fantastic outcomes which develop industry-relevant skills, as demonstrated in abundance during the showcase.
Any plans going forward to follow up on the themes you explored?
I plan to run the showcase each year, hoping to see more examples of students getting hands-on with industry-relevant tech. I am particularly interested to see how AI evolves over the next few years, there were already some impressive examples in this year’s showcase.
What’s something you think students interested in tech should know about at the moment?
Not all students realise this, but Australia, and in particular UTS, are very strong in robotics. There are many opportunities for students interested in tech to develop related skills and set them up for a career in either robotics research or to develop robotic systems for a growing number of industries.
Nic Surawski, organiser of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) showcase
What were some of the interests/themes covered in your event?
The showcase exhibited project work from the following suite of CEE subjects:
- 48340 Construction
- 48370 Road and Transport Engineering
- 48352 Construction Materials
- 48360 Geotechnical Engineering
Were there any surprises for you as the organisers while planning/when the event happened?
There were two pleasant surprises that popped up during our inaugural CEE showcase. Firstly, two industry guests from Arup introduced themselves just before the official start of the showcase and agreed to act as industry judges for the prizes awarded from the showcase. Secondly, a pretty committed student was offered employment from an industry attendee after knocking his presentation out of the ballpark!
Any tips for other academics who would like to plan something similar?
Start early and attend the preparation meetings from the get go. Plan well and remember that students are busy too, so recruit student presenters well in advance (at least one month) of the event. Look to connect a logical sequence of subjects together in the showcase as well.
What would you like for attendees to take away from your event?
Civil Engineering has a reputation for being perceived as boring, but modern civil engineering projects are pretty sexy stuff in terms of complexity and creativity.
Any plans going forward to follow up on the themes you explored?
CEE are planning to run a bigger and better showcase based on our initial trial with UTS Tech Festival in 2023.
What’s something you think students interested in tech should know about at the moment?
Students interested in tech should not forget the importance of good project management tools. CEE can help with that if you have questions.