June - celebrating females in STEM, bronze awards and Headstart numbers

Well the events continued apace this month!

I attended the West Midlands regional Big Bang at which we held the Industrial Cadets graduation for some 200 Key Stage 3 students who had undertaken Go4SET projects. The standard was amazingly high, as always. The students received their Industrial Cadets Bronze award, and will hopefully sign up to the website enabling them to access further industry related experiences. We were pleased to hold this event at the Big Bang as this presented the students with an enhanced experience and access to further careers awareness. Our presence as EDT likewise added to the scale and effectiveness of the event. This shows how partnerships can add value to the overall experience and we shall continue to seek such opportunities.

Earlier in the same week I attended an Industrial Cadets bronze level graduation at Airbus where more than 50 girls displayed their Go4SET projects mentored by Airbus employees. This was the second year that this event had been held and focused on girls in to STEM. The graduation day was arranged to coincide with National Women in Engineering day, emphasising to the girls the wonderful opportunities for them in STEM related industries and jobs.

On the same day the EDT held a First Edition event together with the Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers for over 100 girls. We were delighted to welcome Roma Agrawal as guest speaker. Roma has become a role model as a structural engineer having worked on the Shard. An interview with Roma appears on the EDT website http://bit.ly/1m4oY8G.

The Headstart programme started at the end of June. This year we have a record number of courses and continue to have excess demand from students. The courses are proving increasingly of value to students before they complete their UCAS forms helping them decide on course as well as university.

The Year in Industry contribution to the business awards are under way. Each of the 5 EDT regions holds a final and sometimes semi-finals to choose which students will attend the national finals in September in London which will be at the Royal Academy of Engineering. Last week I was a guest at the SE region final which was well attended. The standard of the presentations and projects was as inspiring as ever. It was particularly reassuring to see so many companies attending to see how the scheme works.

As schools, colleges and universities start to draw to a close in July, our events will continue in strength with Headstart courses taking place across the country, Go4SET celebrations, First Edition STEM days and more!