Highlights of the 2019 Peterborough STEM Festival
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00:00STEM for us is about building the next generation.
00:21You know, our business would be nowhere if it wasn't for our engineers,
00:25and engineering careers are essential.
00:27It's really important for companies like Angling Water
00:30and the Angling Water at One Alliance to be involved in something like this.
00:33We recognise the importance of STEM and obviously going forward,
00:36we have a huge shortfall of engineers and we need to educate the younger generation.
00:42We think it's skills for learning, skills for life,
00:46and science, technology, engineering, arts and maths,
00:50because we like to think about the arts as well, that's part of it.
00:52So we think it's absolutely the kind of key things that we should be teaching our children.
00:58It's just been so much fun and so educational for them,
01:03and they've had opportunities to do little mini explosions,
01:07which for any three and five year old is just the best thing in the world.
01:11Today's been great, it's been really busy,
01:14everyone's been loving what we've got over here with the bridges,
01:17everyone's been really interested and it's been really, really good.
01:20I think all the children seem to be taking to everything,
01:22we've got Skanska over there, they seem to be wanting to dress up in hard hats and high-vis jackets.
01:27All the children that I've come across have all had really, really good questions,
01:31they've all been really engaged.
01:33Some of the questions have actually been really, really technical, which has been fantastic.
01:36There's been so many people, they've been really interested, it's been a really great event.
01:40So the children have absolutely loved building the bridge,
01:43they've had some really cool, wacky ideas,
01:45so I think a few of them could be potential architects in the future,
01:49especially maybe even civil engineers, you know.
01:56The world is moving in such a fast-paced way when it comes to technology and science,
02:01I think it's so important for them to be surrounded by all of these developments and opportunities as they grow up.
02:08I think that the more kids understand what's out there,
02:11the more interested they'll be in learning the basics of the sciences.
02:15There's LEDs, you can make a light come on.
02:23It's really important that girls are involved because there's not enough females in construction.
02:27STEM isn't just for the boys, it should be accessible to all,
02:30so events like that really show young girls that they can do absolutely anything the boys can do,
02:36and there's a lot of opportunity out there for them.
02:40There's been a lot of different people here today,
02:42and we actually had an autism hour from half nine to half ten
02:45to allow different groups of people to come in and feel more comfortable,
02:48and also be able to enjoy it the same.
02:52I've already got plans in my head for next year,
02:54of things that I'd like to bring ahead, little activities that I think would work well.
02:59So yes, I'll certainly be attending another STEM festival.
03:02I'd say this is the best event we've done in a long time.