Robogals is a joint project run by the school and the University of NSW, giving female students from years 7 to 12 the chance to build robots and program them to move and identify light sources so they  automatically stopped when they reached a black line. 

Canobolas Rural Technology High School community engagement officer Vince Lovecchio said the program was about changing the perspective of what were traditionally considered male subjects.

“It’s to help female students gain an insight to areas normally grouped to male students, such as engineering, technology and software design,” Mr Lovecchio said.

He said it would also give girls an opportunity to look at 21st-century career paths, such as nanotechnology, mechatronics and robotics, which they may not have previously considered.

“It’s been identified globally that female students outperform their male counterparts in these areas, in engineering and computing,” Mr Lovecchio said.

The Robogals workshop was trialled at the school last year.

“We got it right, it was very successful so we thought we would open it up to other students in the region, Molong Central School, Blayney High School and Orange High School,” Mr Lovecchio said.

The workshops began yesterday and continue today and tomorrow.

tanya.marschke@fairfaxmedia.com.au