What Is Outreach at Monash DeepNeuron?
Spark & Share (Igniting minds with insights and collective learning)
Outreach has developed over the years into more than just one branch. What started as a single sub-branch has grown into a multi-faceted platform. Today, Outreach encompasses distinct committees, including Law and Ethics, a dedicated Outreach branch within Education, and Outreach Ancillary, which draws contributors from various other branches.
Greater Outreach now serves as a space for STEM students to explore their passions and embrace the art of education. Reflecting on this evolution, Jayus Kion (co-Education lead) highlights, “Cultivating this initiative has been the most significant achievement of my career in DeepNeuron. I am so proud of the integrity and excellence we have brought into high school and university education.”
At a quick glance…
A major turning point for the Outreach team’s growth also involved a shift in focus on how workshops are presented. As Andrique (Outreach member) explains, “Rather than trying to inscribe everything we know about AI into workshop slides, Outreach has matured to consider what information is important for different audiences and how we can adapt our teaching styles to make our workshops more digestible and valuable for them.”
In continuation, another key part of Outreach’s transformation lies in the personal touch its members bring to workshops. As Sanithma (Outreach member) tells us, “This year, the teaching style in MDN Outreach has drastically evolved. Workshops have become increasingly interactive, actively involving students in the learning process and immersing them in the fascinating world of AI. Despite the inherently technical nature of the topics, we’ve embraced a light-hearted approach, blending entertaining jokes and engaging activities with the core goal of educating students on the fundamental theories of AI.”
Marketing Gets Up Close with Outreach: Highlights from the Team
We had the chance to chat with some incredible members of our Outreach team about their experiences, the workshops they’ve been part of, and the moments that have stood out to them. Here’s what they had to share:
A highlight for me was presenting our Semester 1 ENG1013 ‘Ethics of AI’ presentation and seeing the way students actively engaged with the content. Having completed the same unit a year prior it was exciting to be on the other side of the Workshop and hear first year perspectives on the intersection between AI, engineering and the associated ethical implications.
- Olivia Pepe, Law and Ethics Co-Manager
Visiting the Landers and Rogers office and seeing the view truly inspired me to pursue a career in law. Being part of this team allows me to educate and empower students, showing them that AI isn’t as intimidating as it seems and emphasizing that the responsibility lies with them to train reliable and transparent AI models.
- Wendy Huang, Law and Ethics Awareness + Outreach (AO) Member
I’ve taught the Introduction to HPC series, which was a lot of fun, and really put me out there. I truly believe that for some people I was able to break down the beliefs of HPC being super difficult and hard to enter to something a lot simpler to everyone inherently uses. I’ve also done , ENG1013 Intro to AI, Workshop Workshop and Intro to OOP for highschool kids. Another highlight for me was the Engage Engineer workshop that gave highschool kids a little intro into being a software engineer. This highlight stands out to me because of how amazing the kids were, as they often came in not caring about software engineering but came out with an interest in software engineering and also AI.
- Jackie Nguyen, HPC Co-Lead
Being a part of outreach means closing the gap on AI education (or just education in general) at any level and for every demographic. Outreach is building as many bridges to navigate the next generations into building confidence and comfortability of the enterprises of Artificial Intelligence. Where there is an opportunity to learn or teach AI, we want to be there!
- Jayus Kion, Education Co-Lead
One of the major highlights of teaching is witnessing that “Aha!” moment on a student’s face. It’s absolutely priceless to see someone transition from confusion to understanding — from “what on earth is this?” to “I actually get it now.” That’s exactly why I teach, and I know it resonates with many of us in this profession.
- Sarge, Education Co-Lead
I have designed and taught workshops for events such as VicHack, Robogals Hackathon and Engage Engineer, collaborations with MAC, CCA and MYMI, as well as school workshops with Scotch College, WCI and so on. The most rewarding part was attending Outreach meetings at the end of the year and realising how close I have gotten to my team as a result :D
- Andrique H, Education Outreach member
My main highlight is the creative freedom we have when it comes to helping design certain educational content. I absolutely love when we get to experiment with different visual elements like 3d models, and engaging analogies that really challenge the way AI and HPC education is delivered.
- Sanithma M, Education Outreach Member
Looking to the future, there’s an overwhelming sense of excitement and ambition within the team. Members envision an evolving and expanding Education branch, with aspirations to reach more schools, extend university workshops to additional units, and foster greater collaborations. The focus is on delivering higher-quality and more impactful workshops, events, and educational experiences. From whimsical animations to wider outreach, the team is committed to seizing every opportunity to educate and inspire, ensuring that what lies ahead will be nothing short of extraordinary.
MDN Outreach is not just a platform for education; it’s a movement that challenges norms and empowers students. By blending creativity, passion, and forward-thinking, the team is reshaping how students connect with AI and inspiring the innovators of tomorrow.
Special thanks to:
Publication editor: Regina Lu
Publication assistants: Quynh Do, Sanithma M, Veronica He
