TMK sponsors Wilderness Girls School Team for Subs in School 2023

TMK Consulting Engineers is delighted to be a gold sponsor of Team ORCA-207, an all-girl team from Wilderness School who are participating in the annual SUBS in Schools competition. The competition will take place in September at the Adelaide Showground.

The SUBS in Schools Technology Challenge is a collaboration between REA, the Department of Defence and industry stakeholders including the Australian Submarine Corporation and Saab Australia. It was conceived in response to the Australian Government’s announcement of the $50 billion Future Submarine Program. It is the world’s first-in-class submarine design competition. Students design either a Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle (ROV) or a submarine that they must operate. The project covers a broad range of engineering fields, including mechanical, electrical and hydraulic.

TMK chose to support ORCA-207 because we believe in the importance of supporting young adults to develop a passion for engineering and STEM as a whole, but we also made a conscious decision to support an all-female team in 2023.

As an engineering consultancy company, TMK is aware of the underrepresentation of women in our field. Statistical figures released by the Department of Industry, Science and Resources showed that in 2016, women comprised less than 15 per cent of domestic engineering and related technologies undergraduate course completions and less than 11 per cent of vocational education course completions. Of the STEM-qualified population, women comprised only 17 per cent in 2016(1).

The causes of poor attraction and retention of girls and women in STEM begin from an early age and compound as progression to more senior careers is made. Often referred to as a ‘leaky pipeline’, the result is a system with low representation of women in STEM education, workplaces, and senior-level leaders, and a society that undervalues the opportunities and contributions a career in STEM can provide for girls and women.

At TMK, we believe that by supporting ORCA-207 we are part of the collective efforts being led by the education, research and business sectors, as well as by government, to make a positive impact on reducing the gender gap in our industry.

About ORCA-207

The adoption of ORCA in the team’s name was inspired by the Orca whale. The first submarine designs took inspiration from deep sea mammals such as the whale because of their fluent dynamic movement and the efficiency of their shape while moving through the ocean. The team also chose the orca as it is one of the main protectors of the ocean, similar to how submarines are used to protect the nation’s waters which aligns with our team’s values of passion and strength.

The ‘207’ component of their name comes from the Kobben Class submarine, previously known as ‘Type 207’, commanded by Solveig Krey. Solveig Krey was a Norwegian Navy officer, and the first woman in the world to ever command a submarine. As a team of young girls, we believe the lack of women in STEM can be greatly improved by the participation of females in Engineering and Mathematics, especially through this hands-on SUBS in SCHOOLS competition.

Find out more about the team - https://teamorca207.wixsite.com/orca-207

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SUPPORTING RESOURCES

About SUBS in SCHOOL - https://rea.org.au/programs/subs-in-schools/

Additional reading about Women in STEM

The STEM Equity Monitor 2021
A national data report on girls’ and women’s participation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), is now available. The Monitor reports the current state of STEM gender equity in Australia, and measures changes and trends. It explores the pathway of girls’ and women’s participation in STEM through schooling, higher education, graduate outcomes and the workforce. https://www.industry.gov.au/ne...

How women and girls are transforming STEM -https://www.science.org.au/new...

1 Snapshot of disparity in STEM
https://www.industry.gov.au/pu...