The centre buzzed with excitement as Techniquest hosted a spectacular World of Work event — funded by the Edina Trust — in March, designed to inspire our primary school children to pursue careers in STEM.
The three-day event was filled with hands-on activity stalls set up by leading STEM companies, sparking curiosity and creativity among our young learners. Among those established names were General Electric, Airbus and the South Wales Police, just to name a few.
More than 10 primary schools of 405 pupils stepped through the doors to explore what our field experts had to offer.
Upon arrival, the schools were briefed by Techniquest Education Officer Jenny Morris before spending the morning exploring the centre. The pupils were given a booklet and tasked with meeting the STEM professionals and finding out more about their jobs, in the hopes of demystifying some STEM industry secrets!
As eyes lit up and hands got busy, it was clear that our future engineers, inventors, and scientists were taking some of their first steps in STEM.
In addition to the on-floor activities, the pupils were able to enjoy more of what Techniquest had to offer. The schools experienced the exciting live science show ‘Wales, STEM and the World’ where they explored some of the incredible contributions that Welsh innovators have made.
Highlighting the importance of interactive careers events like World of Work, one teacher said: “This is just the kind of thing that gets [the pupils] interested in a career in science or engineering.
“I think that being able to learn more about these kinds of careers in a fun way, and being able to speak to professionals from different companies is helpful to their future career prospects.
“I’m really glad we were able to be a part of this.”
A total of 20 companies took part in the event, so whether it was Renishaw’s portable 3D printer or the amazing selection of Rubik’s Cubes at Cyber First’s stall that initially caught the pupils’ eyes, there were plenty of activities to get hands-on with.
Rosie, who represented Space Wales, said: “It’s important to raise STEM awareness in the younger generation in a fun way.
“Letting them learn through play and ask questions to industry professionals in an environment like this is a really effective way to do that.”
We would like extend a huge thank you to the Edina Trust for their generous funding, as well as all the companies who worked with us to ensure the event was a success, including:
Airbus
Andrew Scott
Cardiff University
Centregreat
CSConnected
Cyber First
EESW
General Dynamics
General Electric
Iungo
KLA
Microchip
NHS
Renishaw
Royal Planning First
South Wales Police
Space Wales
Technocamps
Transport For Wales
WSP
If you are interested in funding events like this for the next generation’s STEM professionals, please enquire with Techniquest Head of Education Andrea Meyrick at [email protected].