For the third year in a row, CEMAST hosted the Education Business Partnership’s STEM Fair for primary school pupils in the local area. On the 8th-10th of March, hundreds of young people attended to take part in a variety of activities laid on by local businesses and organisations, to learn more about the subjects of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.

Companies including BAE, Portsmouth Water, Boygues, IBM, Pfizer and many more came along to the event to share their knowledge and expertise with pupils who were very keen to get involved. Using their own resources, the business volunteers laid on exciting activities such as live science experiments, clay modeling, 3D printing, workshops, creating structures and investigating objects under microscopes.

The purpose of the event was to inspire and engage young people in the STEM industries, to enrich their learning and broaden awareness of the subjects, whilst also having great fun and taking part in live activities!

Steve Dingsdale, Assistant Principal and Managing Director at CEMAST, said: “This has been a fantastic event for CEMAST to be involved in and we enjoyed welcoming all of the organisations and schools taking part. The STEM Fair provides an exciting and engaging way to inform young people about careers in these vital areas, and we also hope that pupils will be interested and inspired by the excellent engineering facilities at CEMAST.”

Jacquie Jones, Project Manager at EBP South Ltd, said: “The STEM Fair is a chance to see how these important subjects are very relevant to future careers and our everyday lives. Everything is aimed at encouraging young people to enjoy STEM subjects, and to be inspired for their own futures. EBP South is enormously grateful to all the exhibitors, sponsors and hosts who made this such an exciting and informative event.”

As the Centre of Excellence in Engineering, Manufacturing and Advanced Skills Training, CEMAST was an ideal venue for the fair to be held and it proved to be a very successful event. With vast workshops and high-tech equipment, the campus allowed young people to experience real STEM in action and everyone thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

The STEM Fair is run by the Education Business Partnerships and sponsored by ARISE Gunwharf Quays, Pfizer, Portsmouth Water, Royal Society of Chemistry, Solent Local Enterprise Partnership, The Careers & Enterprise Company and hosted by CEMAST and Fareham College.