Visit the MNCO zone at the Big Bang North West

With this year’s Big Bang North West only days away, thousands of pupils from the North West are gearing up for another STEM-stational event.

Held at Liverpool Exhibition Centre on 5 July, the event is organised by Educate Awards sponsor MerseySTEM and brings together exciting theatre shows, interactive workshops, exhibits and careers information from STEM professionals.

This year exhibitors include Sellafield Ltd, Unilever, Network Rail, Liverpool Girl Geeks, Scottish Power, Carillion, St Helens College and many, many more.

Another Educate Awards sponsor, Merseyside Network for Collaborative Outreach (MNCO) is involved this year. With its own MNCO Zone dedicated to hands-on, interactive exhibits from its 11 partner institutions, MNCO will be bringing all aspects of STEM learning to life.

MNCO is a collaborative partnership between the Higher Education Institutions and Further Education Colleges located in Greater Merseyside.

Within the MNCO Zone, exhibitors include Edge Hill University, Hugh Baird College, University of Liverpool, LIPA, Riverside College, The City of Liverpool College, Liverpool Hope University, Riverside College, Liverpool John Moores University, St Helens College & University Centre St Helens and Wirral Met College.

Each of the exhibitors will be highlighting a STEM-related topic; from DNA, examining engines, wearable technology, ocean chemistry, sound, computing, scientific experiments to writing code and designing games; every aspect of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths will be explored.

Also taking part in the day is University of Liverpool’s Institute of Infection and Global Health. The ‘What’s eating Shaun and Daisy? Vectors & Parasites: the disease game’ exhibition will feature a stand with live insects, researchers currently working with these pests and a whole host of disease games.

Chris Bayes, collaborative network manager at MNCO, says: “MNCO is delighted to announce be acting as Platinum Plus sponsor of MerseySTEM’s Big Bang North West event. As a network, we are committed to supporting schools and colleges in accessing interactive and dynamic STEM related activities and we are looking forward to supporting MerseySTEM in making this year’s event the biggest and best yet!

“Our MNCO zone will feature an array of hands-on and exciting exhibits from our partners.  Attending pupils will have the chance to take part in a range of interactive activities.”

MerseySTEM managing director, Michelle Dow adds: “Real companies, with real opportunities, face-to-face with thousands of young people from right across the North West! The Big Bang North West will make a huge impact on the future economic success of our local region by providing a direct link between schools and businesses.

“This is about plugging the skills gap and ensuring that our children are ready, appropriately qualified and skilled, to take up their place in the rapidly developing jobs landscape in the area. It’s so vitally important and, as the team responsible for delivering the event, we’re really excited about its potential… and it’s fun!”