National Science Week (10-18 August) is here and the students at St Peter’s Lutheran College
Indooroopilly kicked off their own unique celebrations by donning their lab coats and getting scientific with batteries.
To facilitate the hands-on battery experiments that highlight how integral batteries are to science, Battery World General Manager Johnny Kennedy, Indooroopilly Franchise Owner Poonam Yadav, and Store Manager David Cover spent an hour on-site this week at the Queensland school, powering up scientific young minds, offering a lesson in battery safety and maintenance at the same time.
Unique program inspires young minds
St Peter’s Lutheran College Indooroopilly is no stranger to the wonders of science. They have very own ‘Rock Bots’ program for innovative students.
The program, which is sponsored by Battery World Indooroopilly, has seen students travel interstate
to compete in international robotics competitions.
“Robotics gives me opportunities that other competitive activities don’t give me. I got into Robotics
after I first saw Battle Bots – it made me want to learn how to build robots myself,” says 13-year-old student Xavier.
“Battery World really helped us in our FRC season by helping us identify bad batteries and giving us batteries and chargers to keep our robot ‘Rocky’ moving.”
Xavier’s personal interest in robotics was sparked in Year three, when he joined a community FIRST Lego League team.
“I love how robots can be so complicated but work at the same time and I love neat cable management because it is satisfying,” he told EducationDaily.
“I’m very interested in the way that all the electrical systems on robots work and the complexity of some robots”.
Xavier says his ambitions include studying mechatronics and possibly mechanical or software engineering at university.
“My career ambitions are to work in a company where I get to build big robots,” he says.
Alignment with industry and career pathways
For the St Peter’s Lutheran College Indooroopilly Digital (Robotics) Coordinator overseeing the Rock Bots program, seeing the students actively engaged in the evolving program is exciting.
“When I first started teaching robotics, over 15 years ago, robotics was far more simple and more toy-based,” he told EducationDaily.
“These days, robotics is far more complex and is more aligned with industry and future career paths. Students and families expect more from robotics too. Our robotics these days encapsulates 3D modelling, laser cutting, 3D printing, vision systems, autonomous control and far more complex coding.”
And, he says, student interest is growing.
“We are fortunate to work with industry professionals to help mentor our team members throughout the competition season. Most of our robotics coaches are university students, studying in robotics allied courses. Student conversations with mentors and coaches inevitably leads to future careers and uni course selection.
“The FIRST robotics program also provides scholarship funds that students can access, this is another drawcard for students participating in robotics at St Peters.”
He says that this National Science Week event was designed to help students in a range of ways, hoping that students will:
○ Develop an appreciate the importance of battery safety
○ Understand the chemistry of battery construction
○ Realise best-practice to maintain batteries for long-term use
○ Connect with local business owner/manager
○ Further cement our sponsorship relationship
St Peter’s Lutheran College Indooroopilly student Jack is another robotics fan.
“I am currently doing Certificate II Engineering pathways in 2025 with the interest of going into
hydraulic repair and industrial fabrication, Jack told EducationDaily.
“I actually came to this school specifically because of their robotics program.”
Powering up a new generation of scientists
Battery World General Manager Johnny Kennedy says the business has been a committed sponsor of St Peter’s Lutheran College Indooroopilly’s Robotics team and is proud to contribute to the students’ success at international robotics competitions.
“Community support is very important to us, and we are grateful to assist in supporting the next generation of scientists,” Kennedy told EducationDaily.
“As Australia’s largest battery retailer, it’s essential that we offer our expertise and industry knowledge to our community and keep them powered up all year long.”
“We hope students leave the session confident on how to take care of their batteries safely and appropriately. We also hope to excite them on the inner workings of batteries and how they can apply this when developing their robots in future.”
