Special Edition: STEM Engagement

This special episode covers a topic that has a particular resonance during these months of home-schooling due to the COVID-19 lockdown - engaging children in science. Three seasoned campaigners from ORE Catapult’s engineering and disruptive innovation teams talk about their experience of getting into STEM-based occupations and the different ways they are bringing this to local schools, online STEM channels, competitions and much more. They debate questions about the imperative to skill-up our workforce of the future and some good examples of outreach. Guest Biographies Stephanie Mann is Innovation Manager in ORE Catapult’s Research and Disruptive Innovation team. Her project portfolio focusses on identifying and supporting high-potential SMEs with innovations at the cutting edge of offshore renewables, including hydrogen-wind, airborne wind and space applications. She runs her own YouTube channel Science with Steph, which explores the science at the heart of children’s stories and films to bring core principles alive for young people. Lorna Bennet is a Mechanical Engineer working at the core of ORE Catapult’s engineering team. Lorna also leads a variety of STEM engagement and outreach activities to schools around our Scottish project sites. Lorna has an exciting portfolio of design and research work to her name in the wave power, oceanographic research, aerospace, oil and gas and construction industries - a perfect mix for firing young imaginations! Jonathan Hughes is Validation Manager at ORE Catapult’s National Renewable Energy Centre in Blyth, a world-leading facility for the test and validation of novel technologies and the biggest test projects for leading manufacturers and operators. He specialises in electronic and electrical engineering and has worked at the Blyth facility for more than a decade, during which he has taken his ground-breaking project experience to local schools and colleges in his role as STEM Ambassador.