Scitech is a not-for-profit organisation whose mission is to increase interest and participation by Western Australians in science and technology. Scitech generally aims its programs at children aged up to 12, but it does provide activities for children and adults of all ages.[1][2]
Scitech operates the Scitech Centre, a permanent science museum and exhibition, and Horizon, a planetarium, both located in West Perth, Western Australia.
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The Scitech Centre opened in 1988. It features a number of exhibitions designed to inform and educate visitors on a myriad of subjects concerning science and technology, in addition to regularly scheduled live shows presented by staff.
Large feature exhibitions are rotated every six months, with a variety of science and technology exhibits pertaining to a particular theme, storyline or concept, most of which are built in-house by Scitech's design, graphics, and workshop departments. Scitech was the first Australian science centre to build large-scale interactive exhibitions. In addition, the exhibitions Scitech creates have also toured nationally and internationally to places including Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Darwin, Singapore, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Finland, Portugal, and Estonia.[3][4]
Approximately 2.5 million people have visited Scitech since its opening in 1988. 250,000 general public visitors and 75,000 school children visit Scitech annually.
Notably, the floor staff that most visitors will interact with fall into two categories.
Funding for the centre comes from grants from government, corporate sponsorship, admission and membership fees, and other supporting services.
Sponsors include Lotterywest (who have naming rights on the Lotterywest Science Theatre), BHP Billiton Iron Ore (who have naming rights to the feature exhibitions created by Scitech, Western Power (who have naming rights on the Western Power High Voltage Show), and the CSIRO (who run the science laboratory within the centre, which aims to provide hands-on experience to school-aged students). [5]
In 2004, Horizon: The Planetarium was opened. Horizon is adjacent to the science centre, and is a state-of-the-art planetarium screening multimedia space shows on an 18m domed screen. Horizon is housed in the domed area of the City West complex that was formerly the Omni Theatre IMAX cinema.[6]
The planetarium is currently the largest domed screen in the Southern Hemisphere, using a digital projection system to accurately depict not only the night sky but fully 3-dimensional renders of astronomical phenomena. Visitors are taken on a virtual tour of the solar system and beyond with an emphasis on interaction with the live presenter who has full control over what is displayed.[7]
Scitech's Outreach is a program that takes Scitech's educational science and maths programs to over 170,000 people across Western Australia.[8][9]
Scitech's Technology Program
Catering to Years 8-10, Scitech's Technology program motivates, encourages and inspires students in new technology and new media. Using state-of-the-art learning tools to develop and complete tasks, students gain an insight about the importance of techno-literacy in their future careers. The program is delivered using a specially-equipped ‘Techno Truck'[10] that visits schools throughout Western Australia to get students buzzing with all the latest gadgets on the market. [11]
Technology Program at Scitech
New Media Video
Robotics Video
Example Videos