On 2 October, more than 120 guests — made up of excited students and proud family, friends and teachers — attended a celebration evening here at Techniquest.
The Destination STEM Research Placements and Experiences programme is a UK-wide scheme designed to provide year 12 students with authentic, engaging placement opportunities within the STEM [science, technology, engineering, mathematics] sector.
Techniquest manages the programme in Wales, and almost 70 students took part in the programme from all over the country.
This year, 10 organisations provided invaluable placements and experiences, with the likes of Wardell Armstrong, the Office of National Statistics, some of Wales’ top universities, and of course, Techniquest taking part. The “prize” for the organisation offering the most placements went to the University of South Wales, who hosted a whopping 19 students in total — outstanding!
The evening kicked off with the students and their families being welcomed with a short speech from Techniquest’s Head of Education, Andrea Meyrick, who is no stranger to hosting a Celebration Event after managing the programme for over 10 years and congratulating well over 1,000 students in that time.
The students shared their engaging projects on display with each other and all the guests on site. There were an amazing range of interesting topics showcased, such as: is sitting bad for your health?; noise pollution; intensive care communication; and investigating shark activity around the Welsh coast.
Before being presented with their well-earned certificates, the attendees were addressed by Techniquest’s newly appointed Chair of the Board Dan O’Toole and Wales’ first Nobel Prize laureate, Professor Sir Martin Evans.
Dan O’Toole said: “The young people here have had amazing experiences, thanks to the incredible support of our placement providers. I’d like to take a moment to thank all of you.
“We hope you’ll become ambassadors for STEM, inspiring future generations with the same creativity and curiosity that you’ve shown during this programme.
“The future of STEM is in great hands with people like you leading the way.”
Before we could draw the celebrations to a close, there was still a significant prize to present: the prestigious Steve Bowden award, a £1,000 cash sum given to the student with the best post-placement assignment.
Presented by our very special guest, Ali Bowden, on behalf of our late former Chair of the Board, the honour was given this year to Madison Delaney from Maesteg School — who was on placement at USW — for her project looking at the impact of vaping on the Oral Microbiome.
We would like to congratulate all the students for their hard work and dedication over the summer, and our wonderful participating organisations for their continued support of our future young STEM professionals year on year.