Industry experts inspire school children to take-up careers in science, technology and engineering
FOR RELEASE: COP26 Energy Day – 4th November 2021
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Leading companies are ‘going into the classroom’ in the North East – some, for the first time – to reassure young people that there’s a real future for them after school in science, technology, engineering and maths.
LM Wind Power, Casper Shipping, CyberWhite, Everflow Tech, Hogg Global Logistics, Sage, Ubisoft Reflections, the National Horizons Centre at Teesside University and Newcastle University are just some of the top employers and organisations speaking to primary and secondary pupils in a ten-week programme of interactive sessions starting Wednesday (10th November 2021) run by industry-led event host, TeenTech®.
Held over ten weeks, the free sessions will be online, to ensure the event is Covid-safe, and to help support teachers under pressure during the Pandemic.
Funded by The Reece Foundation, TeenTech Live North East will focus on themes which offer real job opportunities; from Game Design, Cyber Security, Coding and Animation to The Future of Transport, Space, Environment and Health.
Businesses and experts will be on-hand to share their stories on career paths. There’ll also be insight into the roles that make their companies ‘tick’. For older pupils ‘Innovation’ sessions will set mini challenges around the set themes. For younger pupils, there’s a chance to design ideas for a safer, smarter, kinder ‘City of Tomorrow’.
Sessions start on November 10th 2021 and run until 1st March 2022 hosted by leading science & tech reporters including Kate Russell and Dallas Campbell.
Led by Maggie Philbin OBE (BBC Tomorrow’s World and Bang Goes The Theory) TeenTechhas successfully delivered inspiring initiatives nationwide for 13 years, introducing thousands of young people to opportunities they may not have realised existed.
Industry-leading contributors include LM Wind Power – a GE Renewable Energy business – who’ll manufacture some of the largest wind turbine blades in the world at Teesside’s biggest Freeport zone from 2023 bringing 750 direct renewable energy jobs and 1,500 jobs to the supply chain. In supporting the Environment session on the 10th November, LM Wind Power will be reaching out for the first time directly to North East pupils in the classroom.
“As a relatively new sector in industrial technology, Renewable Energy is also one of the fastest moving – and we consider those who are at school today to be the ones who will take even greater benefit from the jobs and careers the industry is creating,” says LM Wind Power UK Managing Director Andrew Bellamy. “For LM Wind Power, our latest commitment to bring wind turbine blade manufacturing to the North East will see us open completely new possibilities for careers in many aspects of our business. TeenTech Live will be the first school engagement opportunity for us in the region, and we hope the insights to the incredible industry will excite and motivate those attending.”
“It’s crucial for young people, their parents and teachers to have a window on future employment prospects, which are very much growing here in the North East”, says Maggie Philbin. “Our events will not only bring industries of every kind to-life but will also help teenagers re-assess their potential to enjoy and thrive in those areas. We know that talent can sometimes lie untapped and we want to make sure that teenagers in this region are the ones seizing those exciting new jobs.”
Further details, including a pre-recorded teacher briefing, dates and how to register are at https://teentech.com/live/northeast/.
Young people will then be able to take their learning forward and develop employer contacts in The TeenTech Awards. Since the awards began 11,000 young people have taken part, bringing them into closer contact with employers, mentors and experts in modern industry. https://teentech.com/awards/
Charles Clayton – Degree Apprentice for Vodaphone – 18 years old
“When I was 15, I worked with friends on an idea for an augmented reality comic book app. TeenTech introduced me to Disney Animations CTO, Nick Cannon, who mentored me – and I won! Growing up, there were no video game heroes who were people of colour, so I featured myself as the hero in a space game. We wanted to inspire kids to be successful in tech, so it was important to see someone who looked like me.”
Nicole Hirst – Apprentice print engineer – 17 years old
“I got into TeenTech because I was having a hard time accepting my disability and needed something to join-in with other students. I was such an unconfident, quiet, shy person. Now I have built my confidence. TeenTech has given me a life. I have experienced so many things I would never have been able to do. This included being invited to represent the UK in the USA when I subsequently became runner-up in Young Engineer of the Year. I am now another step closer to my dream of becoming an engineer.”
Lauren Shea BEM (British Empire Medal – Queen’s Birthday Honours 2019) – MEng Mechanical Engineering undergraduate – 21 years old
“TeenTech has set me up for life. Without them I wouldn’t have had the work opportunities when I was still under-18. The contacts have been invaluable.”
NOTE TO EDITORS
TeenTech is an award-winning industry-led initiative, co-founded by Dr Maggie Philbin OBE (BBC Tomorrow’s World and Bang Goes The Theory) and Chris Dodson OBE DL, Chairman Mortimer Technology Group. They adopted a collaborative approach from the outset working with Education Business Partnerships, companies and business organisations, to create a very special experience for young people. The first TeenTech event ran in the Thames Valley in November 2008.
Thanks to the support of a prestigious list of partners and corporate sponsors, TeenTech now runs a comprehensive programme of regional interactive events, year round award programmes and workshops on company and school sites across the UK, introducing teenagers to opportunities in further education and employment.
Since Covid-19, those sessions are currently being offered online. So far, TeenTech has hosted over 150 virtual sessions helping teachers, pupils, employers and industries to connect. TeenTech experiences are highly regarded by teachers and have won many awards; 98.5% of schools that attended a TeenTech event said they’d attend another. CEO Maggie Philbin was awarded Digital Leader of the Year in 2016.
Today TeenTech’s powerful collaboration with technology companies as well as education, business, and professional organisations has created an immersive, interactive and high impact series of interventions at crucial milestones in young people’s lives.
TeenTech and their students have also been responsible for national and regional reports on Digital and STEM skills. Their 2015 report ‘Digital Skills for Tomorrow’s World’ was cited over 40 times by the House of Lords’ subsequent report on digital skills. https://teentech.com
The Foundation’s main objective is to increase the long term and sustainable prosperity of the North East of England primarily through the promotion of engineering and manufacturing. In particular, they focus on the improvement of education in engineering and related scientific and mathematical subjects, training in engineering skills, and the development of employment opportunities. https://www.reece-foundation.org