It’s no secret that Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects provide the foundations of future innovation. Engaging young people to become inspired by these subjects and developing the talents that are needed, are a key to ensuring a thriving knowledge-based economy as part of our country’s place in future, global markets.
SyntheSys has been playing its part in contributing to STEM initiatives with the Whitby-based firms’ Managing Director, John Hartas, recently getting involved in a dynamic initiative at a local school.
John, who is a STEM Ambassador (www.stem.org.uk), was thrilled to initiate Caedmon College’s ‘S Prize’. Youngsters from the college battled for the prize, amazing everyone with their extensive knowledge of subjects ranging from how plastic in the ocean affects marine life, to mysterious Dark Matter.
John said: “The submissions we received were as documents, PowerPoint presentations, a model of a volcano (that actually erupted), and a computer game. All the submissions were of a really high standard and the judges were greatly impressed.”
The winner of the Key Stage 3 prize was a joint team formed by Joshua Harland and Connor Betts. Their submission was on the Life Cycle of a Star and included a computer game they invented.
The Key Stage 4 prize went to Rebecca Morgan for her submission in the style of a scientific paper on Dark Matter. Rebecca said her project overall was based on the questions and confusion about Dark Matter which, in her opinion, is one of the biggest mysteries in any modern day scientific field. She said: “I was inspired to write about this topic as no one truly knows what Dark Matter is yet, so I decided that since it is going to be one of the most talked about topics in science for many decades to come, I would want to be informed of potentially one of the biggest scientific breakthroughs of the century.”
The prize for Key Stage 5 was won by Emma Sharpe for her submission on the effects of plastic pollution on our oceans. Emma said that taking part in this project had inspired her to be more conscientious about recycling, and in future, she hopes to take part in activities such as beach cleans in order to help keep our oceans free of plastic.
It is now hoped that the awards will become an annual event.
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