Do you remember who inspired you when you were at school? Did that person inspire you to choose the industry you now work in or the role you're now doing?
The STEM sector is vital to the future of the UK economy, with engineering alone accounting for 26% of the UK’s GDP. However, like many other countries, the UK has serious STEM skills shortages. EngineeringUK’s 2017 report identified that:
- The UK needs 265,000 skilled entrants annually to meet its requirements.
- It needs double the numbers of engineering apprentices and graduates.
- Women are considerably under-represented in the STEM sector, with only 1 in 8 of those employed in engineering being female.
Encouraging young people into STEM careers helps to reduce gender and skills gaps in higher education and industry, and enables employers to recruit skilled and capable individuals and ensure there is a sustainable talent pipeline. With this in mind, it’s vital that the sector inspire, educate and support the next generation to enter the STEM industry.
Two explosives chemists from Cranfield University have been taking part in an outreach programme to support and inspire young people with STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) projects during the school shutdown period.
As part of Project Inspiration Dr Lisa Humphreys, Research Fellow – Formulation Chemist, and Niki Darcy, Senior Laboratory Technician at the Centre for Defence Chemistry, Cranfield Defence and Security, produced a video about formulation chemistry.
Project Inspiration is organised by the STEM Ambassador Hub West England and Graphic Science, which invites volunteer STEM ambassadors to record videos talking about their STEM expertise and link this expertise to project ideas that young people can use to follow up with their own STEM research. It is a new YouTube channel created to support teachers and students during the COVID-19 shutdown.
The aim of Project Inspiration is to give students the opportunity to get involved in some independent learning through STEM project work so that when it comes to writing applications for college, university, or applying for apprenticeships, they have some additional evidence to show their commitment to STEM subjects.
The aim is that the projects will be accredited through the CREST Awards scheme, with students gaining the Silver Award, which requires at least 30 hours of independent work.
Chemistry creations in lockdown
Lisa and Niki created a video titled ‘Using formulation science to create great products at home’. In the video, they explain what formulations are – mixtures of chemicals which work together to produce products with desired properties – and discuss what they can be used for.
Lisa said: “We can’t always set time aside at work, but so many of us engage in outreach activities outside of work so we can make a difference. This lockdown period created a perfect opportunity to enable us to do more. It was wonderful to educate young students about the art of formulations, and better still to give them the chance to get hands-on and step away from their screens to conjure up some clever creations.”
Niki agreed: “Having been put onto furlough during lockdown, STEM activities were an obvious place to channel my energy. Having taught in a school for 10 years, I am aware of how science is perceived as ‘hard’ and ‘only for strange people in lab coats’. This programme gave Lisa and me the opportunity to devise activities which would present science in a fun and engaging way, while showing applications in everyday life.”
Willy Wonka and mixology - science in everyday life
In the video Lisa and Niki suggested follow-up projects for students to do which included developing a weird and wonderful ‘Willy Wonkaesque’ piece of confectionery, creating colourful clothing designs using natural products, developing a decadent dessert and using mixology to create magical mocktails.
As a result of Project Inspiration and their video, Lisa and Niki are now working with a teacher and student from Bournemouth School for Girls on a project to create a delicious dessert. By varying individual components in her experiments, the student is able to determine how each ingredient contributes to the taste, texture and aesthetics of her new concoction.
Technology is transforming our lives, but there is a need to ensure that people have the right skills to be successful. Education, industry and governments need to work together to provide opportunities for young people. By helping to make STEM subjects more accessible - and more interesting – the industry can empower young people, particularly females, to gain qualifications, experience and skills for a future career in STEM, therefore ensuring that organisations have an increasingly diverse and talented workforce going forward.