GETTING out of the classroom and away from the text books, a handful of Macquarie College HSC students were given the opportunity to tour through the Orica Kooragang Island site on Wednesday.
Part of celebrating 10 years of the organisation's HSC Chemistry Education Program, the students were able see Orica's ammonia plant, three nitric acid plants, two ammonium nitrate plants and a product dispatch area, in hopes to inspire them to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and maths.
"I like understanding how things work, I'm a curious person and after today's experience I think I could actually work here," chemistry student Omar Omar said.
The small group was led by first-year university graduate and Nitrates Operations team process engineer, Sean Johnston, who attended the same program back in 2018.
"I think at that point in my life I really didn't know what I wanted to do and it was good to come to a place and see applied science versus just classroom type stuff," he said.
"It really pushed me down that engineering pathway. I reflected on my experience here, and I was like that's something I could really enjoy doing for the rest of my life."
He said taking the students on a program he once did felt surreal and it was good to show them what is happening in their local community.
"I'm very grateful to show them around, because it's sort of giving back to what I had," he said.
"It's great to engage with the students and see their eyes light up when you're talking about this sort of stuff and we can compare how things have changed in five years, like the chemistry program they're doing compared to what I did."
Omar said he would like to pursue a career in engineering while classmate Nada Alomary said she would like to do something in the medical field.
"I think coming here was a big eye opener though, just to see a different field of work and learning the process of the plant, seeing it in person instead of just sitting in class learning about it," she said.
"It makes you appreciate how far science has come."
Over the last decade, more than 1,800 students from 44 schools have participated in the innovative program that brings many elements of the HSC Chemistry syllabus to life.
Macquarie College teacher Fiona Butler has been bringing her students to participate in the program since it began.
"It's so valuable for students to see chemistry in action. The equations in a textbook become tangible products used widely in society," she said.
Orica Kooragang Island's Manufacturing centre manager Paul Hastie said the education initiative offers students a chance to apply their classroom studies to the real world.
"Our facility is the only one of its kind in the entire south-east region of Australia, putting us in a unique position to give students a first-hand look at various manufacturing processes," he said.
"It's a great way of making the school curriculum relevant to life beyond the classroom and we hope the experience might help persuade students to pursue a STEM career."
