One of the most important — and lucrative — fields a young person can enter is the STEM discipline. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math. These are not exactly the sexiest of career choices. It’s not like prospective entrants are warned about how often things blow up when choosing this career path.
South Africa’s National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF) has launched an online tool designed to promote just how attractive a field the sciences can be. Called the STEMulator, it’s an interactive map of the various fields possible, from being a pilot to an electrical engineer.
STEM cell research
It’s incredibly easy to use, too. The various fields are visually represented on a map of potential use cases. Power stations, airports, airplanes, and satellites are among the options, as well as your typical human being. Opening any of these will (generally) offer an exploded view of the various parts involved. Select any of these — say, a human nervous system or an airplane wing — and you’re greeted with a short rundown of what each item is.
The rundown is accompanied by the various STEM careers involved in making each of these work as intended. Perhaps it’s neurology, perhaps it’s aeronautical engineering, but each explanation also offers a selection of South African educational institutes where the career path can be studied.
There are other neat touches. Most sections feature a video overview, for the youngsters who don’t have time to read a few brief paragraphs. TikTok has been at work for several years and if it’s not on video, it doesn’t exist. Links to resources offer further reading as well.
There are a few other features that have yet to launch. One of these is the virtual school, which offers “science and biology classrooms for grades 4-12 with curriculum-aligned content and teacher guidance notes, and soon to include maths content too.” This feature goes live on Youth Day, 16 June. More content is set to be added to the interactive map in future, though there’s no indication of when this will take place.
