More than 190 students from nine Western Australian secondary schools attended this year’s Muresk Institute’s Drone versus Dog trials.
The Drone versus Dog trials were established in 2017 at Muresk Institute, Western Australia’s skills hub of modern agriculture, to expose secondary school students to the rapidly advancing agriculture industry and the career opportunities it provides.
The event teaches students how modern technology such as drones and robots or ‘agbots’ are applied in the industry, and showcases the sector to students who might not otherwise think about a career in agriculture.
The program also allows Muresk to demonstrate clear pathways to employment through the educational courses at Muresk, including Curtin University’s Associate Degree in Agribusiness.
This year, Archie Le Grice from John Curtin College of the Arts won a drone for his school, beating the other student pilots with a time of 17.42 seconds. The dog, Jay, had the best time but missed the final hurdle.
This is the second win in a week for Archie who also took out the Under-18 Junior Boys division at the HIF WA Longboard Titles, and will represent WA at the Australian Surf Festival on the Tweed Coast, New South Wales in August.