Two leading lights from Exeter and East Devon Enterprise Zone have announced their sponsorship of The Big Bang Fair South West 2019.
Taking place on Tuesday, June 25th 2019 at Westpoint Arena, the Big Bang Fair is a national programme that celebrates and promotes careers in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) to young people.
Flybe are Headline Sponsor, working in partnership with Devon County Council, and Exeter Science Park are Gold Sponsor.
Flybe will have a large presence on the show floor within the event, which provides a fantastic range of activities to engage and inspire the 6000 visiting students expected on the day. Engineers, pilots and cabin crew from Flybe will be on hand to talk to students and highlight the career opportunities available within the aviation industry. Students can expect to have a go at flying a plane on their simulated flight activity, undertake an engineering challenge and experience a selection of aircraft maintenance based activities.
Flybe’s CEO, Christine Oumieres-Widener said, “We are very happy to be the headline sponsor at the Big Bang event this year. It will be a fantastic opportunity to reach out to many young potential future pilots and engineers. At Flybe we strongly believe in inspiring young generations to pursue careers in aviation and the best way to do so, is to have them directly engage with our pilots and engineers who will be available at the stand to talk to them. Also, we have launched the Flyshe campaign which is designed to highlight the importance of addressing the huge talent shortage in aviation industry by inspiring young girls and women to consider roles that are traditionally male-associated. So I would like to use this opportunity to personally invite them to visit our stand and talk to us, as I am sure they will discover that there are no glass ceilings in the sky.”
By visiting Exeter Science Park’s stand at the exhibition, people will have the exciting opportunity to help name the Open Innovation Building, which is due to be completed in 2020. Visitors can learn about a shortlist of inspirational STEMM professionals from history and then vote for their favourite. The building will be named after whoever has the most votes at the end of the day.
Dr Sally Basker, CEO of Exeter Science Park, said: “Exeter Science Park is home to a wide range of businesses in STEMM industries, from pharmaceuticals to software development, veterinary research to engineering testing, so we are in an ideal position to inspire young minds by showing them the vast range of career opportunities available. Our mission is to help extraordinary STEMM companies to deliver extraordinary growth, but to continue to do this for years to come we need to support the next generation of scientists, engineers, technologists, innovators and entrepreneurs.”
Over the last three years, the Big Bang South West programme has reached over 39,000 students and brought together a diverse range of employers. They also work to showcase the talented young people across the region at the heats of the Big Bang UK Young Scientists and Engineers Competition.
The 2019 event will host a range of exciting elements under one roof including; a show stage featuring engaging live science shows, a range of hands on activities from employers from across the region, interactive workshops and the chance to find out about career opportunities.
