Apr 18, 2018
The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Fair last month welcomed almost 80,000 visitors over 4 days, with an equal split between girls and boys. Visitors found out about STEM careers, got hands-on through activities and workshops offered by over 100 inspirational exhibitors and the new 'festival-style' format meant more visitors could enjoy the 12 amazing shows on offer.
The school days, Wednesday to Friday, hosted 4,200 teachers and students from 882 schools. Across the event young people attending were predominantly Key Stage 3 (aged 11 to 14), with over a quarter from primary.
The Fair hosted the UK finals of The Big Bang Competition, which saw just under 500 talented young people showcase their project work and compete for awards in engineering and science. Josh Mitchell was crowned UK Young Engineer of the Year for his low-cost, flat-pack 3D printer and Emily Xu became the GSK UK Young Scientist of the Year after impressing the judges with her project on new ways of separating mirror image molecules.
All the young finalists impressed with their hard work, insight and enthusiasm and many featured in the extensive national and regional broadcast coverage. This included a BBC Breakfast sofa interview with Josh and Emily as well as Baran Korkmaz, who won the Junior engineering category with his Grenfell-inspired emergency evacuation app.
The UK fair returns to the NEC 13-16 March 2019 and regional fairs are taking place across the UK over the next few months. These will aim to inspire even more young people to consider a career in STEM and will host the regional heats of The Big Bang Competition, identifying some of the incredible young people who will compete in the finals next year.
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