For some years SMEC has supported the National Youth Science Forum which is held annually in Canberra. The Forum gathers together around 300 students who are about to enter their final year of high school and intend to pursue careers in science, engineering or technology. During an intensive program lasting two weeks the students are introduced to researchers, visit national institutions in the Canberra region, are given presentations by specialists on current trends in scientific research and are encouraged to discuss some of the major issues in the contemporary scientific debate. The program is supported by various government agencies, corporations and Rotary.

A group of students from the Forum normally spends half a day at SMEC's headquarters in Cooma where they meet both experienced engineers and recent graduates who explain what they might expect from a career in a company like SMEC. A demonstration of SMEC's fluid dynamics laboratory is also arranged so that the students can see how the movement of large bodies of water in major water resources projects is modelled. This laboratory is one of the largest facilities of its kind in Australia.

For more details please contact Pam Behncke, Human Resources Manager, SMEC.