South Yorkshire’s largest STEM careers showcase ‘Get up to Speed with STEM’ marked its 15th anniversary by holding a two-day event and hosting a special evening celebration.
Over 6,000 young people, educators and industry professionals took part in this year’s event, which was held at Magna Science Adventure in Rotherham, and ran from 19-20 March.
The event began with a Business Breakfast bringing together industry leaders to discuss the STEM skills gap, with speakers including Master Cutler Phillip Rodrigo, Richard Caborn, President of the Work Wise Foundation, Professor Ben Morgan, interim CEO of the AMRC and Sheffield’s own aspiring future F1 champion Rowan Campbell-Pilling streamed in live from the Zandvoort Circuit in The Netherlands. The Work-wise Foundation’s CEO, John Barber, reflected on 15 years of Get up to Speed, which has grown rapidly over the years and has now offered experiences to over 50,000 young people.
The highly anticipated Get up to Speed event offered a hands-on experience with around 100 exhibitors providing a real-life insight into the world of STEM careers. Activities throughout the two-day event included metal casting with United Cast Bar, drone football, learning about the workings of a McLaren car, taking part in TaskMaster challenges, designing their own inventions with Kids Invent Stuff, exploring nuclear fusion with the UK Atomic Energy Authority and having a go at Virtual Welding with the AMRC Training Centre.
The first day was dedicated to secondary school students and the second day welcomed primary school students and SEND young people.
“This has been an iconic Get up to Speed event! For a couple of years, we’ve had requests to extend it to a two-day event and it has been fantastic to offer both primary, secondary and SEND pupils their own dedicated times to experience Get up to Speed and get as much out of it as possible. We’ve had a fantastic response from both teachers and pupils and we would like to thank all the businesses and organisations involved in putting on such amazing and interactive activities which really have brought STEM careers to life," said John Barber, CEO of the Work-Wise Foundation. “We’ve had former pupils from the early days of Get up to Speed coming back to exhibit here now they have a career with a local manufacturing business. It is incredible to think that their ambitions may have been sparked at GUTS and now they are showing the next generation just what their future could look like!”
Secondary school students also had the opportunity to explore the Big Melt Magna and fire, air and earth attractions at Magna Science Adventure Centre, which vividly showcases the region’s rich steel heritage.
The event concluded with a Big 15 celebration evening, which brought together many people who have supported Get up to Speed over the last 15 years in an evening of entertainment at Magna.
Hosted by Alex Gardner from Smile Business Support, the celebration featured a two-course meal, fantastic live music from Dave Perkins, mesmerising magic form Andrew Dean, entertainers from Gullivers Valley Theme Park and interactive activities including virtual flight simulator with Skills Street, large scale race track and Drone Challenges with Iprosurv. A special recognition award was also presented to The Rt Hon Richard Caborn who has been a great supporter, advocate and President of The Work-wise Foundation since its creation 15 years ago.
Since being established in 2011, Get up to Speed has introduced more than 50,000 young people and educators to the exciting world of STEM, helping to bridge the skills gap and inspire the next generation of innovators.
