The Collingwood Football Club will partner with LifeJourney to launch Australia’s inaugural Day of STEM and will feature the ‘Capologist’ LifeJourney.

The Day of STEM is designed to provide every Australian student - regardless of means - with the opportunity to ‘test drive’ their future by enabling them to live a day in the life of Australia’s STEM leaders.

Collingwood is joining with many of Australia’s leading organisations, educational institutes and government bodies to be part of Australia’s Day of STEM specifically to empower and encourage today’s students to become tomorrow’s STEM leaders.

Collingwood’s Capologist LifeJourney is designed to show students that maths can be ‘cool’ and that pursuing a career in maths could see them assisting in the development of salary strategies with a major sporting association, such as the Collingwood Football Club.

Collingwood CEO, Gary Pert said, "At Collingwood we have recognised that by doing more with maths skills, more with data and using more analytics in everything we do, we can take what we do to a higher level - both on and off the field. We believe that STEM skills can be a key driver in the future of professional sport."

"We are proud to be the first sporting association in Australia to be part of the Australian Day of STEM program which will encourage students to pursue STEM subjects at school and university. Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths skills are used in almost every area of our economy today - even in sports like football - so it’s of fundamental importance that business, government and academia join together to build the future STEM generation,” he added.

Click here to sign up to Australia's Day of STEM.

The Australian Day of STEM Platform - which was unveiled on Tuesday 17 November and will ‘go live’ in Term 1, 2016 - features mentors from a large number of Australia’s leading organisations, with students able to ‘test drive’ a wide range of STEM careers, ranging from Data Scientist, Exploitation Analyst and Capologist to Ethical Hacker, Chief Information Officer and Chief Information Security Officer.

Plans are underway to roll out the Day of STEM program to students around the nation, complementing the existing school and university curriculum and providing Australian students with the chance to explore what their future could be like if they pursue STEM subjects.

"Many countries are experiencing an ICT skills shortage, with a global shortfall of 1 million computer science graduates predicted by 2020. A recent report by PwC, The World in 2050, issued a warning that Australia stands to lose its place in the world economy if it doesn’t take a fresh focus on education, particularly for science, technology, engineering and maths subjects," noted Rick Geritz, Global CEO, LifeJourney.

"While Australia is currently ranked as the 19th largest economy in the world, PwC has predicted that without investment in skills and a move away from resources, Australia could slip to 29th position by 2050.

"On Australia’s Day of STEM, business, government and academia will join forces to drive Australia’s National STEM IQ by enabling students around the nation to virtually experience a range of STEM careers and in doing so, be inspired to pursue a career in STEM. We are thrilled to have a sporting powerhouse like the Collingwood Football Club on board to help drive this important national initiative,” Mr Geritz concluded.

Pre-register to be part of Australia’s Day of STEM

Students and teachers from schools and universities are encouraged to pre-register to be part of Australia’s Day of STEM - and to follow the journey of Collingwood Football Club’s Day of STEM Capologist.

About the Day of STEM

The Day of STEM is a national initiative, designed to raise the National IQ for STEM and cybersecurity careers. The Day of STEM will inspire the next generation of Australian STEM professionals through an interactive, online STEM awareness program called LifeJourney. This platform will enable students, at scale, to test-drive STEM careers and live a day in the life of the nation’s leading STEM professionals by introducing them to the hard and soft skills needed to pursue a STEM career.

Click here to learn more about Australia's Day of STEM.