STEMSEL CLUB

STEMSEL stands for Science Technology Engineering Maths Social Enterprise Learning. The STEMSEL clubs are an arm of the STEMSEL Foundation which is a not for profit organisation that aims to teach every child how to use electronics. The STEMSEL clubs are our way of starting the process and building support for our vision of an Australia, even a world that understands and utilises electronics to it's full potential for the benefit of all.


Supporters


The STEMSEL Sisters


The STEMSEL Sisters is an initiative of the STEMSEL Foundation aimed at closing the gender gap in STEM professions. The STEMSEL Sisters are Rocket Propulsion Engineer Flavia Nadini (our STEM sister) and Social Scientist Nkandu Beltz (our SEL sister). Together they are committed to inspiring young women to take up a career in STEM. The STEMSEL sisters have already received the personal patronage of South Australian Member of the Legislative Council Gail Gago Minister for Employment, Higher Education and Skills, Science and the Information Economy, the Status of women, Business Services and Consumers,

Flavia Nadini Nkandu Beltz Gail Gago

eLabtronics


eLabtronics has been a strong supporter of the STEMSEL Foundation since it's inception. eLabtronics has allowed the STEMSEL clubs to use their software and facilities when available free of charge. eLabtronics has offered their technologies as prizes for students and will remain a key technology partner of the STEMSEL clubs long into the future.


Royal Adelaide Show


The Royal Adelaide Show is a close partner of the STEMSEL Foundation supporting our clubs by offering us a platform for students to compete for prizes. Each year the RAS and STEMSEL set up a large display at the Wayville Showgrounds and judge entrants into their robotics and electronics competitions with prizes provided by the RAS and eLabtronics.


Technologies


ezSystem


Is a graphical software interface that allows you to quickly and easily program micro-controllers. The software was originally designed for engineers by our technology partner eLabtronics but was found to be so easy to use a child could program on it. As a result eLabtronics has released the simplified version for STEMSEL to use and this forms the backbone of our teaching program. ezSystem offers a graphic of the board simplifying port selection and understanding, then sends information to it's sub-program CoreChart which offers a flowchart based programming language that is quick and easy to understand.


STEMSEL Board


The STEMSEL Board is a development board specifically designed by eLabtronics to be used in the STEMSEL Clubs program. The STEMSEL board utilises a PIC micro-controller and multiple input output ports allowing for the development and programming of a myriad of complex electronic systems. Programmable with any windows PC in conjunction with ezSystem.


   The STEMSEL Mini Board

 Features:


The STEMSEL Mini Controller incorporates the PIC18F14K50 microcontroller from Microchip  Technology Inc. (USA). As it contains FLASH MEMORY, users do not have to take it off the board to  use/apply the program. The board can be used to input/output signals, switches, LED's, transistor  drives, relays, serial port data etc. Many configurations are possible.

  • Microcontroller - PIC18F14K50
  • Digital or Analog I/O Pins - 5
  • Driver Outputs - 1 (support 3.3 ~ 5V, up to 600 mA)
  • Flash Memory - 16 KB (2KB used by bootloader firmware)
  • RAM - 768 bytes
  • EEPROM - 256 bytes
  • CPU Speed - 12 MIPS
  • Power Supply - Low power supply (3.3 ~ 5V) / High power supply (6 ~ 5V) / via USB Cable
  • Programmable via USB (programmer board not required)

Timeline of the STEMSEL Club


The first incarnation of the STEMSEL Club was a program in 2003 called the Robotic Peer Mentoring Program teaching students in grade 10. The program had combined support from the South Australian Government, Universities and eLabtronics. This program ran until 2007 but was closed because by year 10 it was too late to spark students interest in a STEM career as most had already written it off as too hard.


In 2009 eLabtronics helped to found the African Microchip Training Centre in conjunction with Joseph Masika to help integrate newly migrated African youths into Australian Society. Students found that learning electronics was a valuable skill and helped them feel welcomed in Australia. Despite this the AMTC lacked strong support from government or charities and as such struggled to run continuous workshops.


In 2012, Peng Choo, CEO of eLabtronics, reformed the AMTC into STEMSEL which started offering it's workshops to schools during the week and it's own workshops on weekends. eLabtronics also offered it's support in the form of a new STEMSEL chip just for the STEMSEL organisation to use.


In 2013, the STEMSEL Foundation was formed as a not-for profit organisation aiming to increase the number of students interested in STEM careers, improve it's interns business and communication skills and encourage international students to study and work in Australia.


In 2014, the STEMSEL Foundation started the STEMSEL Sisters initiative to combat the gender gap in engineering and STEM professions. STEMSEL continues to run and expand it's club organisation build new organisations in Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney.