Jun 7, 2019
Over 40 inspirational volunteers were recognised at a celebratory annual awards ceremony the IET Birmingham: Austin Court on Thursday 6 June, as part of Volunteers Week 2019.
Hundreds of volunteers are involved in running a successful Big Bang Fair, the largest celebration of STEM for young people held annually at the NEC in Birmingham in March.
From encouraging young people to think about science and engineering as a future career to reviewing entries for The Big Bang Competition to ensuring the smooth running of hundreds of events, volunteers are the lifeblood for these successful events.
Dr Hilary Leevers, EngineeringUK CEO presented the awards and the guest speaker was Sophie Harker, the IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year.
Commenting on the event, Dr Leevers said: “We’re delighted to recognise our inspirational STEM volunteers who go above and beyond to support our engagement programmes and our young people at this year’s Volunteers Awards ceremony.
“The Awards are a chance to celebrate the dedication and outstanding contribution our volunteers make to encourage young people towards studying STEM subjects or carving out careers in engineering. They should feel incredibly proud and valued - my congratulations to each and every one of them.”
Awards presented included The Outstanding Contribution Award for lecturer Mark Corns from North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College. On receiving the award, Mark said:
"It is a great honour to receive the Outstanding Contribution Award, which really needs to go to the whole college team. Without their efforts and dedication, it would never have happened. My fellow tutor Jo Patel is the cornerstone of our department along with the support members of staff Nova, Suki, Villy and Rachel.
But the outstanding contribution really comes from the students. Every year they have risen to the challenge and gone outside of their comfort zones doing a role that many of them have never even considered doing before. They make us very proud and our relationship with The Big Bang Fair is a massive positive boon for our Travel and Tourism Department and the students who take part."
Big Bang GEM (Going the Extra Mile) awards went to Robotics Challenge team leaders Jaimal Mistry, Alex Richardson, Ken Mollison and Juan Andres Vasquez Amaya for supporting the Robotics Challenge at regional and UK Finals, held at The Big Bang Fair 2019. A special category of awards also recognised the contribution of volunteers under 25 years of age – seven volunteers received the Big Bang Young Volunteer Award.
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