LIKE many young students, Jamie O’Donnell is going camping, but this trip involves astronaut training instead of tents and campfires.

Currently a Year 9 student at Tomaree High School, Jamie applied for a place at NASA Space Camp and was successful.

Jamie will be travelling to Hurstville Alabama in the USA to participate in what can only be described as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

At Space Camp, Jamie will not only participate in astronaut training, but also learn about dealing with the physical and emotional aspects of being an astronaut in space.

Jamie O’Donnell told News Of the Area, “I’m really interested in the engineering aspects of the NASA Space Camp.”

“My career goal is to be either an aeronautics engineer or a mechatronics engineer which involves a double degree in electronics and mechanical engineering, with core elements including robotics.”

“I’ve participated with a team in the school robotics program where we built a robot in a competition that had to climb a rope and place a gear into a chain; the whole class worked on it and 12 of us competed against other schools at an event with our robot,” he said.

Jamie is participating in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) classes at Tomaree High School.

The classes involve excellent opportunities to learn STEM subjects that can lead to relevant and exciting job opportunities.

 

By Marian SAMPSON