Thales Australia's Maritime teams support the next generation of innovators

Our Rydalmere and Garden Island sites recently hosted an enthusiastic group of engineering students from the University of Newcastle  to support their efforts in designing an autonomous vehicle to compete in the 2022 Maritime RobotX Challenge. The students were eager to see first-hand the advanced capabilities we're delivering to our customers and working toward building a future we can all trust.

The day began at Rydalmere where Underwater Systems Technical Director, Tim Cain, welcomed the students before giving them an overview of the COOL Lab (Customer Oriented Operations Lab), Towed Array Production and Acoustics production. The students saw Thales’s simulation and modelling capabilities which help showcase technology that can be used for concept development, experimentation, user experience studies and training. This was followed by a tour of the Captain Cook Graving dock at Garden Island, where Above Water Systems Operations Manager Brad Lovegrove explained the dock’s operation and the history of its construction.

Configuration and Data Manager, David McKinnon said:

“The day provided a valuable opportunity for the students to observe what we do at Thales and ask questions, and for us it’s an opportunity to find great talent. We hope to work with some of these inspiring young people in the near future."

Thales Newcastle and Rydalmere’s sponsorship of NU Teams

The visit is part of Thales Australia’s sponsorship of ‘NU Teams’, a not-for-profit student group at the University of Newcastle. Their mission is to inspire, support and empower undergraduates who have an interest and passion for engineering and science. The group is working toward the RobotX competition, an international competition between universities led by the Australian Department of Defence and United States Office of Naval Research. The competition will see teams develop autonomous maritime vehicles to compete across various navigation challenges. It is designed to foster student interest in autonomous robotic systems operating in the maritime domain. The platform they have designed is about five metres long, sits on two inflatable pontoons and powered by two electric motors.

There isn’t any doubt that their visit to Thales’s maritime businesses will have given them further inspiration for their design but also an insight into what a career in engineering and science can look like.