Eleven teams from schools in three Australian states and territories descended on Lockheed Martin Australia’s state of the art LMA House in Canberra on 17 August to compete in the second Australian Code Quest competition.

The goals of the annual competition are to encourage high school students to pursue careers in STEM and prepare the next generation of coders. During the competition students work together in teams of two to three, solving problems by using JAVA, Python, VB.net, C, and/or C++ programming to complete the “quest.”

Twenty-six students and five coaches from schools in Canberra, Melbourne and Newcastle filled LMA House in Canberra to put their coding skills to the test, but in the end, it was the team of Joseph Tay, Saurabh Jhanjee and Ryan Kam from Haileybury College in Melbourne who walked away with the coveted first prize.

The FLA’s from Newcastle Grammar won second prize with the C Flats from Canberra College third.

Before the competition got underway all the teams had the opportunity to learn about Lockheed Martin Australia’s innovation and have some hands-on interaction with Lockheed Martin technology.

Behind the scenes, a team of twelve volunteers gave up their Saturday to ensure the competition ran smoothly and that the experience was fun, informative and inspiring for students, coaches and visitors alike.

“It’s a terrific thrill for us in Lockheed Martin Australia to bring the Code Quest competition to Australia for the second time and for so many high school students from around the country, including regional areas, to pursue this science, technology, engineering and maths-based competition,” said Lockheed Martin Australia Managing Director of Space, Rod Drury. 

“The possibilities of an exciting competition, as well as the window it opens to studies and careers is as inspirational for the students who have made the journey as it is for, we volunteers who are delighted to make it possible. Advancing STEM and encouraging as many students to tackle it as possible is critical for Australia’s future."

Chris Bucknell, Haileybury College coach and Head of Computing and Digital Technology, said it his team was thrilled to win the competition again this year following their success in the inaugural event.

“We are an academic school, but we also look at the whole person and coming out here today, these students can work on their teamwork, connect with industry … and learn about being an entrepreneur. Competitions like Code Quest enhance and create further opportunities for our students," he said.

Mr Bucknell said ICT and modern digital technology skills were becoming increasingly important in the 21^st century and becoming as fundamental as reading and writing.

“These are skills students need to have. We want to thank Lockheed Martin Australia for hosting the event. It’s great the LMA is supporting education, school and kids – it’s a win, win, win," he said.

Code Quest globally is in its eight year with 684 teams competing at 25 sites.