Northern Regional College student Charlie Coward won the ‘CREST Gold Technology Award’. Charlie is a Level 3 IT student and he will be going to Ulster University (Magee) to study Computer Science. Charlie is also through to the semi-final of the Northern Ireland Science Park’s Young Founders programme.
The event was organised by Sentinus, an educational charity working with more than 50,000 young people each year, from schools and colleges across Northern Ireland, delivering programmes that promote engagement in STEM and support the development of scientific and technological skills. On the day, exhibitions of project work from primary, post-primary and further education students were displayed and judged by industry experts who volunteer their time as part of a commitment to progress the STEM agenda for Northern Ireland.
Speaking at the event, Jim Stewart CBE, Chair of Sentinus said:
“The Sentinus Young Innovators and Big Bang Fair is our biggest event of the year with more than 3,500 young people attending from right across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The event is all about promoting engagement in science and technology project work, exciting young people about the STEM subjects and promoting and rewarding innovation.
“STEM skills are vitally important for our young people’s futures and the future of our economy. The skills which they learn in science and technology – problem solving, creative thinking, communication, team work, analytical skills – are sought after by all employers, so the STEM subjects give young people a really good basis to build a career on. Recently Dan Filby, CEO of American company High Wire Press, spoke of his company’s investment of £6m in a new Belfast operation, creating 74 jobs over the next three years, “An outstanding, abundant talent pool was our highest priority when evaluating potential expansion locations.”
“We hear a lot about STEM being a growth area as the world continues to evolve into a knowledge economy. While it is predicted that there will be many opportunities for young people in the STEM sector in the future, worryingly we are already hearing about skills shortages in a number of areas, here - software engineering, electrical engineering, life sciences to name a few. It is crucially important that we ensure a steady flow of talented young people coming into the area to support the growth of our economy –meeting the needs of inward investment and indigenous knowledge based businesses. That will only happen if we engage them young and enthuse them with the value and importance of STEM subjects.”
