Once you’ve been to the Energy Breakthrough once, it’s hard to keep away.
Many of our riders come back year after year, as do our volunteers. Many even make the leap from participant to volunteer when their time at school is finished!
The Energy Breakthrough is more than just an event. We’ve heard time and time again about the impact it’s made on young people’s lives. How it’s helped them get through high school, make life-long friends, inspired their career choices, and even start their own community teams so they can continue the racing long after their last Maryborough checked flag has been flown.
This weekend we heard from a volunteer, Aaron, who helped out across the weekend as both a scrutineer, design and construction judge and as a pit marshall.
Aaron was indoctrinated into the world of Energy Breakthrough young, his experience with the event starting with his time at Maiden Gully Primary School and then Creek Street Christian College, where he participated for many years.
Through his involvement in the program, and particularly in the design and construction of the vehicle’s, Aaron developed an interest in engineering and fabrication, specifically in the use and function of the composite materials used to build these vehicles.
When he finished high school, Aaron went to university, where he studied engineering, a choice he credits directly to his time and experience at the Energy Breakthrough.
Now, Aaron is a fully qualified engineer, specialising in manufacturing. These days he doesn’t design canopies or chassis’ or trike components anymore, but parts for Boeing planes!
It’s quite the journey from building trikes at Energy Breakthrough to plane parts for the world’s largest aerospace manufacturer and we’re proud to have been part of it!
This year Aaron came back to the Energy Breakthrough and got to experience another side of the event.
Not much has changed as far as he’s noticed this year, the high energy atmosphere of the event remains as strong as ever, and the level of interest in the event, as well as the motivation from each of the teams was something that left him quite impressed!
Aaron’s advice for anyone interested in a career in the STEM field? Try everything, you never know what you might like until you’ve tried it, then get involved, find some like-minded people and let them help you drive your passion, wherever it may lead.
With a few days spent in the Design and Construction tent, Aaron had a few teams he was particularly impressed by, with special mentioned to Bendigo Senior Secondary College for their pure electric vehicle (Earth Mover) and Holmesglen, for their incredible level of knowledge and the detail they were able to provide about their engineering process.
Thanks Aaron for bringing your passion and expertise to the 2022 Energy Breakthrough, we appreciate your time and knowledge (like all our volunteers), more than we could ever put into words.
We couldn’t run this event without our wonderful volunteers, so why not take a leaf out of Aaron’s book, and come and join us in 2023!
