A team of STEM Ambassadors from Eurotherm by Schneider Electric took part in the Big Bang Fair South East.
Targeted at 9 -19 year olds, this interactive engineering and science event attracts more 7,000 youngsters and teachers for an exciting day of interactive displays and workshops. The Eurotherm STEM volunteers ran hands-on programming sessions in the popular Minecraft game environment on the pocket sized Raspberry Pi computer.
According to Application Marketing Engineer, Amber Watkin, who is also Eurotherm’s STEM co-ordinator, “A few years ago we noticed a decrease in the number of applicants for engineering roles and recognised the need to encourage more young people into engineering careers. We now have a team of around 15 STEM ambassadors who take part in local activities like science fairs, school projects and career events."
Eurotherm regularly sponsor these events and have sponsored the Eurotherm by Schneider Electric 'Prize for Commercial Potential' at the Big Bang School Project Competition.
"Even though companies often report a shortage of women in engineering, we actually find plenty of girls interested in science and technology at these events," explains Amber. "What we need to do more is demonstrate the opportunities available for them in the workplace and encourage them to choose the subject as career. One of the ways we do this at Eurotherm is to offer one week work experience placements where they can have a go at hardware, software and mechanical design as well as learn about career paths and the qualifications they might need."
Recent winners of the Eurotherm by Schneider Electric Prize for Commercial Potential have been all-girl teams.
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