SI Bournemouth has held their STEM Challenge for the fourth year. The challenge fulfils the programme initiatives to educate, empower and enable with the objective to promote participation and raise aspirations of girls to enter into industries that young women often see as masculine and inaccessible.
Teams of five girls from Years 8 and 9 from nine local secondary schools participated. The challenge was to create a solution to a problem which will help people in the poorest parts of the world. The girls rose to the challenge and had some brilliant ideas, well executed projects and interesting models. Judges from the RNLI were so impressed by “The Atoms” project from Year 8 winners they are going to consider it for development; the model boat designed to support Bangladeshi people in the typhoon season was made of recycled plastic bottles and could be stored on rooftops during the dry season. All girls who completed the Challenge received a certificate of participation from SI Bournemouth and achieved the British Science Association Bronze CREST award which recognizes achievement in STEM based subjects.
The judging of three sets of heats, the finals and awards ceremony was hosted by Bournemouth University, who also provided refreshments for the girls and their supporters. Students from the University acted as STEM ambassadors and gave the girls further inspiration with a guided tour of the University. Motivational messages were received from Rt Hon Nicky Morgan, Secretary of State for Education and Women and Equalities, Roma Agrawal, Structural Engineer on the Shard and SIGBI President, Margaret Emsley.
At the awards ceremony mechanical engineering student Maria V Caroprese, who has English as her second language, shared her journey through education starting at Bournemouth & Poole College to Brunel University reinforcing the fact that girls can ‘live the dream’ giving many examples of the various options in engineering careers. Deputy Mayor of Bournemouth, Cllr Chris Mayne, presented prizes of £250 to each winning school and £50 to each team member.
Sponsorship of the event was secured in the form of funds for the CREST Awards from local company Aish Technologies Ltd. Equally important employees were sponsored as judges by other local STEM based industries Procter and Gamble, Sembcorp, Bournemouth Council, Bournemouth Water, RNLI, Cobham and Dan Storey Landscaping.
SI Bournemouth members excelled themselves in their teamwork, liaising with teachers and Bournemouth University ensuring that the event ran smoothly and maximizing publicity for all stakeholders including an interview on the local BBC Radio network.