WYNDHAM WHISPERS

TAS FACULTY

Year 11 Design & Technology Excursion

On Friday 17th May Year 11 Design & Technology students went on an excursion to the Western Sydney International Airport (WSIA) Experience Centre. The students participated in an airport presentation by Asha Frost, the Senior Community Engagement & Social Impact Officer, in which they learnt about the design of the airport, the future of the airport and the many career opportunities available. 

Students were then given the opportunity to engage with the interactive pods accessing lots of information regarding the design, construction, environmental impact, future development, and lots more interesting facts about the airport. They were then taken on an informative bus tour of the airport and surrounding areas. 

 

Some interesting facts the students learnt on the day:

  • The airport is named after Nancy Bird-Walton who at the age of 19, was the youngest Australian woman to earn a licence to fly commercially. She was known as the ‘Angel of the Outback’ for her work transporting doctors across communities in regional New South Wales. Nancy-Bird navigated using nothing more than telegraph lines and fences as reference. She would land in fields, careful to avoid hazards such as kangaroos and rabbit holes.
  • Bradfield City will be the 3rd largest city and will be the size of Parramatta CBD.
  • The construction required a tunnel to be built under the roads so that cattle could cross from one side to the other and avoid all the traffic.
  • The baggage system will be state of the art spanning three levels underground the airport.
  • More than 4.5 million tonnes of high-quality crushed sandstone from the Metro and WestConnex tunnelling sites was recycled and used to construct heavy vehicle roads and a supportive layer, which is beneath taxiways and the runways on the airport site.
  • The M12 motorway to the airport will be toll-free. 

If you would like to know more interesting facts the WSI Experience Centre is open to the public on weekends and is an experience worth visiting. 

Students and staff found the day very rewarding and a great learning experience for the Design & Technology students. We would like to thank WSIA and Asha for allowing us the time to participate in this experience.

 

Michelle Bromley - Yr11 Design & Technology Teacher