Leonardo: supporting STEM

Leonardo and its forerunners have been proud to support The Big Bang Fair since its inception, hosting a stand of interactive STEM exhibits at the show at each iteration.

I work in the Digital Communications team at Leonardo and have supported the business’s presence at The Big Bang Fair in recent years, helping to inspire young people and further develop my career at the same time.

Leonardo and its forerunners have been proud to support The Big Bang Fair since its inception, hosting a stand of interactive STEM exhibits at the show at each iteration.

I work in the Digital Communications team at Leonardo and have supported the business’s presence at The Big Bang Fair in recent years, helping to inspire young people and further develop my career at the same time.

Supporting The Big Bang Fair has been one of the most rewarding roles I’ve held during my time at Leonardo. Part of my remit involves going to events like air shows and exhibitions across the UK to create content for our social media channels and website.

I joined the company after leaving university in 2019, just before the Covid-19 lockdowns, so there was a long period of time where I hadn’t been able to attend any in-person STEM events.

When the lockdowns fully lifted, one of our top priorities was to quickly organise a return to The Big Bang Fair in 2022. Ready to capture content for our social media channels, I went along to the show armed with a smartphone to show the world what kind of exciting activities our STEM ambassadors had devised for the attendees.

However, once inside the NEC’s vast, hangar-like doors, it was apparent that there would be much more work to do over the 3 days. It was all hands to the pump, with thousands of young people visiting our stand to learn about the technology that our colleagues design and manufacture across the UK. I managed to get some fantastic photos and videos for our website, but most of my time was spent on the stand, engaging with budding young engineers and talking them through our exhibits.

By the time the dust had settled after the show, meetings had been arranged to discuss our presence in 2023. This time, I was asked to organise our wonderful team of ambassadors and design the stand – quite a change from my ‘day job’. I was keen to take the lead, and although I spent a lot of time learning on the job about events management, everything went to plan with a stand and our exhibits drawing thousands of visitors over the three days.

Our company’s Management team were happy with how the stand explained the exciting opportunities offered by STEM, as well as the value of our products to a young audience, but the most important feedback came from the attendees.

Seeing everyone engage with the exhibits so thoughtfully, and ask so many pertinent questions about the work we do, was a reminder of why we've supported The Big Bang Fair.