7000 school children celebrate STEM at the Big Bang North West 2018

The Big Bang North West hit the Exhibition Centre Liverpool on July 10 and thousands of young people from across the region enjoyed exciting exhibits, sensational shows and ingenious innovation while celebrating STEM.

The Big Bang North West is sponsored by AstraZeneca and part of a programme led by EngineeringUK which brings Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths to life.

Big Bang events enable young people to discover the exhilarating and rewarding STEM based careers available in their local area via fun, hands-on activities.

Visitors to the event held fire in their hands, performed with celebrities, fished for viruses, rode a mechanical horse, immersed themselves in virtual reality and enjoyed explosive science shows, gadgets, slime, robots, coding and more – there was even a balloon that flew into space!

Adding to the excitement, the event hosted the semi-final of The Big Bang UK Young Scientists & Engineers Competition.

Students also learned about careers in production, visual effects, make-up and green screen technology with Lime Pictures, ITV and dock10.

Simon Willocks, director Engineering, Facilities & SHE at AstraZeneca said: “What a fantastic day! The AstraZeneca STEM Team of over 40 Scientists, Engineers and Technical Subject Matter Experts from across the North West, provided an insight to our industry. An inspiring event for all who attended and supported…congratulations to all involved!”

In a first for The Big Bang North West, event organisers All About STEM showcased a stand ran solely by young students – All About SLIME! The girls are part of All About STEM’s team of ‘mini-STEMers’ and with support from St Thomas CofE Primary School, Silverberg Opticians and Unilever, they created glorious, glittery goop throughout the day!

All About STEM managing director, Michelle Dow said: “Real companies, with real opportunities, face-to-face with thousands of young people from right across the North West!

“The Big Bang North West makes a huge impact on the future economic success of our local region by providing a direct link between schools and businesses year after year.

“We aim to inspire young people on the day but it’s vitally important that we continue the conversation, encouraging our future workforce to consider the STEM careers of tomorrow”

“We can’t wait to bring Big Bang back in 2019 – get in touch if you can play a part.”

Photography Gareth Jones
Images © Big Bang North West