GALLERY: 2,000 youngsters enjoy hugely successful Peterborough STEM festival

More than 2,000 youngsters turned out for a festival in Peterborough to encourage interest in STEM, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Digital People in Peterborough, in collaboration with ARU Peterborough and Headline Sponsors including the Schools’ Aerospace Careers Programme and GPUTC, organised the event at ARU Peterborough.

The festival’s free-to-attend event, aimed at 5-17 year olds, was attended by over 2000 ‘STEM Adventurers’, who took part in engaging and inspirational STEM activities.

These included coding workshops, interactive science experiments, engineering, and technology demonstrations.

And there were inspirational talks and presentations from professionals including Dr Sam Gregson, the ‘Bad Boy of Science’.

“We were overwhelmed by the popularity of the event this year. It was amazing to see so many young people inspired by STEM and trying new things,” said event organiser Liz Randell.

“We were aiming for the festival to be a hands-on, fun, and inspirational event and this year’s festival has blown our previous events out of the water.

“Our involvement with Ada Lovelace Day, allows us to encourage all children, particularly girls and young women, into STEM subjects.”

Dr Lucy Jones, vice principal at ARU Peterborough said: “We are delighted to have hosted the Peterborough STEM Festival at ARU Peterborough.

“It was a fantastic day, enjoyed by many, and we look forward to working with the team on future events.”

After its continued success in 2019, Peterborough STEM Festival has returned this year after a hiatus, due to the pandemic, allowing local businesses to showcase how STEM is used within their companies.

The event encouraged young minds to share their enthusiasm for STEM subjects and meet local inspirational role models.

This year’s activities included meeting SPOT the robot, trying out a flight simulator and designing in Augmented Reality with The Schools’ Aerospace Careers Programme and racing 3D printed cars at the F1 in Schools track with GPUTC.

The festival is run by volunteers with a passion for STEM.

Free to attend, funding is entirely from sponsorship.

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Peterborough STEM Festival will return in 2025 with a calendar of fringe events starting in the Spring. More information can be found at peterboroughstemfestival.co.uk.

About Peterborough STEM Festival

Our mission is to engage and inspire. We work with parents and educators to inspire today’s youth to become tomorrow’s science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) innovators.

In particular, we strive to encourage and highlight what’s new, unusual, or surprising; to particularly inspire girls and young women by allowing participants to obtain hands-on experience; and enhance interest by providing examples and introductions to role models.

About Digital People in Peterborough (DPiP)

DPiP is a non-profit (CIC) community group and is organised by volunteers. Our membership has increased from 10 to almost 1000 members, with 30 regular attendees each month at our informal meetups in Peterborough.

Our events are open to anyone working in or interested in digital – from those employed by large organisations, freelancers, start-up founders or simply enthusiasts. All disciplines are welcomed and encouraged.

Member industries include development, design, content creation, marketing, databases, security, and systems administration, among others.

https://mydpip.com/

About Ada Lovelace Day

Ada Lovelace Day was founded by Suw Charman-Anderson in 2009 and aims to raise the profile of women in science, technology, engineering, and maths by encouraging people around the world to talk about the women whose work they admire.

It has become an international week of celebration of women in STEM with events happening all over the world. The most recent Ada Lovelace Day was Tuesday 8 October 2024.

https://findingada.com/