The Ford STEAM Hub is a new and exciting collaborative project involving Northern Bay College and the Ford Motor Company of Australia. Ford has been such an important employer in Geelong for many years and its engineers have been working with College students since 2015, supporting the Lego robotics program.
Last year, as Ford was closing its production line in Australia, in a gesture of support they contacted the college to set up a formal partnership in order to retain the Ford brand in Geelong, as well as support students in the development of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematical skills. Employment in STEAM, as is it commonly called, is the future for many younger people.
Ford provided funding from the sale of the last three vehicles off their production line to establish a Ford STEAM Hub at the Geelong Industry Trade Training Centre, which is hosted on the Goldsworthy Campus site.
The new partnership has also seen Ford employ a dedicated STEAM leader to work with Northern Bay and a school in Broadmeadows. It will provide engineers to mentor students at the Ford STEAM Hub, offer work experience to students at Ford, provide real world problems for students to work on, support student and staff excursions to Ford, allow access to the Ford makerspace and assist with the Formula One in Schools project.