MaryAnne Dumitrache and Isabella Mangum are Year 12 students from the Canterbury Girls' Secondary College. They took part in the FEIT Film Festival screening of Paper Planes at Melbourne Connect and a paper plane design activity that was led by Prof. Katja Höltta-Otto, Professor of Engineering Design at the University of Melbourne. 

You took part in the student activity at Uni Melbourne. How did you like it? 

MaryAnne: Well, I really enjoyed even just the trip there, exploring, like taking different public transport and learning the way there and also exploring the different facilities you have in the new science sort of lab area. 

Did you like the combination of watching Paper Planes and engaging in an activity after? 

MaryAnne: I think the film gave a good context. It was a fun way to introduce what we would be doing and then also tying into the design process.  

Isabella: I agree. It was really great. We got to look at different ways you could potentially make the paper aero planes before we got to actually try them out, which was really, really helpful. 

What did you learn while designing your own paper plane? 

MaryAnne: I learned more about the design process and kind of performing different trials and then looking for patterns to improve designs.  

Isabella: I also learned that there are many different ways you can fold the paper to make it fly and not just a certain, one specific design.  

MaryAnne: And just also by watching what other people were doing expanded the designs I had in my mind. 

Were there some unusual designs among them? 

MaryAnne: Some people had just scrunched up balls, which actually went pretty far, but also just different folds and flaps in different places. 

Would you enjoy doing a similar activity at uni again? 

MaryAnne: Just with engineering which is a potential career pathway, it is hard to explore that sort of stuff at school. Going to Melbourne Uni and meeting the professor, and I think she spoke a lot about mechanical engineering, was interesting. She taught us how you have to know about all these sorts of different types of engineering because they all come into this design process. 

You mention that you cannot do this at school. Why not? 

MaryAnne: It is the lack of time because it is hard with VCE Year 12, we have our set subjects, but going to an  excursion or in the holidays, if you go to a program to kind of expand your horizons, to expand your knowledge of the STEM sector, is very good. 

Science, IT, engineering: Is this something you envision as your career pathway? 

Isabella: I personally am hoping to try to get into a science subject and maybe potentially end up in medicine.  

MaryAnne: I am interested in a lot of things. So, potentially something like medicine or dentistry. I like maths as well, engineering. It is hard because at school we are not really exposed to as many different careers, whereas I think with the excursion we learnt more about mechanical engineering and what is involved with that.