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| Stephen with Selex ES at the 2013 Big Bang Fair |
Stephen Metcalfe, local MP
for South Basildon and East Thurrock, recently joined young engineers from
across the country to get a taste of The Big Bang Fair in Parliament.
The Big Bang Fair is Europe’s largest science,
technology, engineering and maths (STEM) event for young people and Big Bang @
Parliament aimed to give politicians, policy-makers and the business community
the chance to meet award-winning young scientists and engineers, and experience
the careers inspiration behind The Big Bang Fair on their own turf.
Young winners of the regional stage of the National
Science + Engineering Competition showcased a range of exciting projects
to guests and MPs. Pupils’ projects tackled issues from global problems, such
as bee sustainability and water purification in third world countries, to
technological innovations, including a transporter robot and an interactive
bin. The finalists are competing for the titles of UK Young Scientist of the
Year and UK Young Engineer of the Year, which will be awarded at The Big
Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair in Birmingham in March next year.
Alongside the engineers of the future, some of the UK’s
leading engineering business and industry, BAE Systems, Balfour Beatty, Jaguar
Land Rover and UTC Aerospace Systems, were there to help demonstrate the
variety of careers that studying STEM subjects can lead to.
The Big Bang @ Parliament was part of Tomorrow’s
Engineers Week, a collaboration between the Department for Business, Innovation
and Skills and the engineering community. The aim of the Week is to bring
engineering to life for young people and to promote the message that engineering offers rewarding,
creative and well-paid job opportunities for young men and women, in a broad
range of dynamic environments like music, sport, computer gaming, construction,
fashion, film special effects and environmental technology.
The
local MP said: “It was fantastic to see young people so enthusiastic about STEM
subjects and to see them looking at how to apply STEM to some of the world’s
most pressing issues. I joined local firm Selex ES at this year’s Big Bang Fair
so it was great to see it brought to Parliament. This is an area I am extremely
passionate about and I hope to see more and more young people in South Basildon
and East Thurrock aspiring to be engineers and scientists.”
“In
order for this to happen, we must excite young people about the range of
great careers that science, technology, engineering and maths subjects can lead
to. That’s what The Big Bang and Tomorrow’s Engineers is all about and why
Tomorrow’s Engineers Week is such a valuable initiative.”
The UK Big Bang Fair will take place on 13-16 March 2014
at The NEC, Birmingham. For further information or to register go to www.thebigbangfair.co.uk
