The South West’s largest celebration of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) – The Big Bang Fair South West returned to the University of Exeter on June 21st.
Under blazing mid-summer skies, nearly 2000 students from across Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Swindon descended on the university campus to explore the wide range of opportunities available in the field of STEM. Over 60 local, national and international organisations, including Beckton Dickinson, Babcock International and Spirent were on hand in the exhibition hub to showcase their work and inspire students to broaden their horizons.
An amazing ‘Mega Class’ in the form of an interactive science session, led by the National Space Academy, took place in the Great Hall and involved more than 500 students. It was rather fitting that on the day of the Queens speech, which contained details of the government’s plans to secure growth in the UKs space industry, that the room was buzzing with young people exploring astronautics and the future of spaceflight.
We are also proud to be the host for the regional heats of the prestigious Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Competition and this year schools from across the Peninsula entered over 50 projects. The competition aims to recognise and reward young people’s achievement s in all areas of STEM and provide them with the opportunity to build their skills and confidence in project-based work.
A full list of the winners can be found at http://www.ebp-sw.org/big-bang/the-big-bang-fair-2017-award-winners
Well done to everyone who participated.