On Wednesday 17th March the East Midlands STEM Partnership hosted an event as part of National Science and Engineering Week. Students spent the afternoon at the National Space Centre and saw ‘Bridget’, the multi-million pound robot, part of the EXOMars project that will touch down on the red planet Mars in 2016 to study the biological environment in preparation for human exploration. Students from Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire also had the opportunity to participate in some of the 150 interactive master classes held at the National Space Centre, recently voted “Large Visitor Attraction of the Year” 2009. A student from The Long Eaton School, Nottinghamshire, who attended the A-Level Physics master class said; "Today was an experience of a lifetime, most beneficial to further my studies in science".

Prior to visiting the National Space Centre, the day began at Crown Hills Community College in Leicester, where students demonstrated inspiring creative science activities; including Lab 13, a dedicated science space in the school, managed by the pupils, for the pupils which was launched in February. Lab 13 experiments are driven by the student’s imagination and curiosity, independently of the curriculum. Students also experienced Kit in a Kase, a self contained experiment delivered in schools where they had the chance to meet scientist Natasha Neale and take part in some fun, contextual science. The morning concluded with a Come Alive with Science demonstration showing how fashion can integrate with science. Students had the opportunity to design and make their own t-shirts using photochromic paints and LED lights. A student from Crown Hills Community College said “Come Alive with Science is great fun, an enjoyable mixture of different lessons with maths, technology and science lessons.

The event supported National Science and Engineering Week (12-21 March) and was an opportunity to promote some of the fantastic STEM activities taking place across the East Midlands, many of which are funded by the East Midlands Development Agency. STEM activities are taking place throughout the region during National Science and Engineering Week. They include Lab in a Lorry which visited Montsaye School in Northamptonshire. Lab in a Lorry is a mobile lab that gives young people the chance to explore science through hands-on experiments. Students at Montsaye, learnt how oil is extracted from its source and participated in experiments involving frequency and sound.  Come Alive with Science activities also took place across the region, and on Monday 15 March Year 9 students from Haven High Technology College, Lincolnshire hosted a screening of their film about climate change ‘Enter the Future’. The film contained stop-frame animation, special effects and CGI. After the screening the Mayor gave a short speech of thanks and encouragement.

Diana Gilhespy, emda’s Executive Director of Regeneration, said: “This showcase event highlighted to partners and the media the fantastic work that’s going on with schools across the region to make science, technology, engineering and maths more exciting and relevant to young people. Our £9m investment is helping schools connect with these subjects in more innovative ways, which is important in ensuring a highly skilled and adaptable future workforce that can compete in our technology-driven global economy.”