LOTE

Technology The year is finally over for VCE students. Projects are finished after students added finishing touches to enhance appearances. VCE Design and Systems Technology requires students to complete a functional piece of work that has to be innovative, aesthetically pleasing and well designed. Not only do the students have to produce a 3-Dimensional outcome to set criteria, but they also have to complete an extensive folio. With this huge work load and time constraints Technology students have produced outstanding work. For the first year in both studies students from Year 11 have been promoted to Year 12. These students are to be commended on achieving excellent outcomes. I have had the pleasure of watching various projects come to life from design through to the final production phase. We are now seeing the benefits of our strong emphasis on ProDesktop as a 3-D computer aided design tool in our junior program. The technology faculty has embraced CAD/CAM and folio presentation techniques, attending many outside hours inservices to enhance their own skills which can be transferred to increased student learning outcomes. Space only allows for a number of projects to be displayed on these pages. What can I say about the six legged walker? Every now and then a student takes up a challenge to design and construct an integrated electro/ mechanical device. James Hillier a Systems Electronics Year 12 student has more than exceeded all my expectations to finish a robotic device that moves, senses and makes decisions on its surroundings to avoid obstacles. James is interested in pursuing a career in mechatronics/ robotics. His time spent in the Systems area has given him a strong grounding in key electrical/electronic principles. I look forward to Jame’s return to De La in a few years to see what projects he has designed to make our lives more interesting.

Year 11 Design and Technology students have been encouraged to try various workshop techniques and processes to enhance skill development for Year 12 studies. Mr Havelock can be seen instructing students on the finer points of wood turning. Tim Stewart has his guitar on show, an ambitious project that has seen Tim and his father visit Gibsons guitar manufacturing centre in Memphis USA. The visit gave Tim the idea and some background information on how to construct an instrument that not only looked good but also was musically sound. Tim has developed his own jigs and templates to cut the complex shape out externally and internally. Quite a feat. It is always a pleasure moving around the Tech room this time of the year seeing projects and folios coming together.

Tim Stewart, Toby Hunt and Nicholas Trevorah with Mr Tony Havelock Mr Adam Elliot with Mr Michael Bazeley and Year 9 animators

During Semester 1, De La Salle College trialled a program where a group of Year 9 students was given the opportunity to complete a short ‘claymation’ film. Part of the course involved watching a selection of clay animation films as well as a visit from the Oscar winning Director of Harvie Krumpet — Adam Elliot. This trial course was made possible with the assistance of our new staff member, Mr Michael Bazeley who supported Adam Elliot as an animation assistant in his award-winning film. Adam was able to give the students a valuable insight into the world of animation and the film industry. The quality and amount of work completed by the Year 9 students really impressed him. Working from an initial script and storyboards, the students made models using wire armatures covered in plasticine. The sets were made from timber, Lego and objects scrounged from home. Students worked in small groups rotating roles, enabling them to experience all facets of creating an animated film. Students were required to film their story, moving each character a small distance at a time. Stop-motion animation is a time-consuming process where one second of film is made up of twenty-four frames. As Adam explained to students, Harvie Krumpet took four years to make, for a total run time of 22 minutes. At the end of the unit all animation students had a strong appreciation of how a claymation film is made. At the end of the year, we will be having a film night to showcase the terrific talent displayed by the Year 9 animation students. Hopefully, we may be able to entice Adam Elliot to award prizes for set design and animation techniques.