*Please note that STEMNET is not organising the Big Bang Fair London. Please see contact details for the organiser, below.*

The Big Bang Fair London: STEM Ambassadors Invitation

Wednesday 11 July, 2012

10am – 4pm

Westminster Kingsway College, London WC1X

A great FREE day for young people to explore and celebrate the excitement and potential of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Visit www.thebigbangfair.co.uk/london

The Big Bang aims to excite, educate, stimulate and enthuse young people about opportunities in STEM, inspiring them to follow careers in this rewarding field. It is led by EngineeringUK and developed in partnership with The British Science Association and Young Engineers with support from business, industry, government and the STEM community. This year Big Bang London returns to the Westminster Kingsway College where, in 2010, over 1,800 visitors enjoyed a vast range of hands-on activities from the likes of IBM, the Science Museum and BP.

To get a small taste of Big Bang London 2010 view our video report on the day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjNL9N9Cqa0&list=UUYAbrtbAATBpm3oPzXD9P5g&index=18&feature=plcp

STEM Ambassadors are a vital part of Big Bang...

The focus of the day is to engage students with STEM through hands-on activities, exciting demonstrations and inspiring interaction. A vital element of the fair is to also give students the chance to interact with you – individuals working and studying in STEM fields – to present the exciting opportunities available to those who progress through STEM. Therefore, we are keen to get as many STEM Ambassadors involved in the day as possible. There are two ways that you can get involved in the day:

1.        Careers speed-networking: We will be running speed-networking sessions as workshops throughout the day. These sessions aim to give students the chance to meet and interview adults from a variety of STEM businesses and organisations. At each session students work in pairs or threes and have 5 minutes to interview each STEM Ambassador to find out as much as possible about the interviewee’s career or subject area. Each speed-networking session will last for one hour, so you would speak to about 12 groups of students. We ask each participant to bring with them some props (photos, pieces of equipment etc.) that are about their job. You can indicate whether you are available all day, or for AM or PM periods.

2.        Judging:  About 80 schools will bring projects to compete at the Big Bang. We would like to recruit STEM Ambassadors as judges of these projects to give the student competitors the opportunity to present their work to people with real-world STEM experience. There is no need for previous experience in judging student projects. The main criteria for judging is the students’ presentation of their work: their explanation of the approach taken in developing their project; their understanding of the outcomes; their skill in communicating their project to you.  Therefore, STEM Ambassadors are excellent judges in terms of a general understanding of STEM-related fields and a knowledge of the skills needed by young people in the world of work. It is likely that STEM Ambassadors will judge alongside other STEM Ambassadors - so there is an opportunity to work together and benefit from each others’ skills and experience. There will also be a team of moderators drawn from STEM organisations who will work with all the judges to help identify the best projects. During the day ten projects will be identified to go on to compete at the national Big Bang 2013. The award ceremony for commended projects will be held at 3.30pm. If you chose to volunteer as a judge, you will need to be available for the whole day, 9am – 4pm. This includes a briefing at the start of the day.

The organiser is looking to recruit about 50 judges and about 70 speed–networkers so all support is welcome. Given the scale of the event, with about 2,000 students involved, The Big Bang London should be a really invigorating and rewarding day to be involved in.

Next steps:If you want to get involved in Big Bang London please contact the London STEM Ambassadors Team via Eventbrite at the following link:

Please indicate whether you would like to be a judge, in which case you must be available for the whole day, or to take part in the speed-networking, in which case you can chose to do so for the morning, afternoon or whole day.

Your response will be forwarded to The Big Bang London event coordinator, Nicola Hern, who will respond to you with further information about the day and then send a full briefing on your role at the start of June.

For more information contact the event coordinator, Nicola Hern:

T: 01697 352744

M: 07980 098652

Email: events@herncommunications.co.uk