University Encourages Students into STEM Careers at Science Festival

St Mary’s University, Twickenham was among a number of institutions and companies at the 17th SATRO Summer Science Festival in Guildford on Thursday 19th June. The SATRO Summer Science Festival is a long-running careers event designed to encourage 11-22 years olds into Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) careers. Dr Elisabetta Canetta, Lecturer in Physics at St Mary’s, attended the event where she showcased the University’s science and technology expertise with the help of two students and physics technician Emmet Farragher. They presented four physics experiments: how to build an electromagnet, how to produce electrostatic forces, how a transistor works and how a calculator works. Visitors had the chance to experiment by themselves, whilst deepening their knowledge of the physics concepts behind each experiment by discussing with St Mary’s representatives. More than 30 organisations, including the RAF, Virgin Media, EDT and IBM, took part in the event. High school and sixth form students were also invited to take part in a competition to make a STEM related project with cash and trophies awarded to prize winners. Elisabetta said, “The SATRO Summer Science Festival was a very successful event that allowed us to interact with young people and inspire them through having fun with physics. It was incredible to witness the curiosity of very young pupils when placed in front of real physics experiments. They could grasp basic physics concepts simply by doing. “Many pupils found it inspiring to explore the manifold opportunities that a career in science may offer by talking to our current Applied Physics students and asking questions as varied as ‘why are you doing a degree in Applied Physics?’ to ‘why is nanotechnology important is our society?’. It was an incredible and rewarding experience and we are now preparing to attend the TeenTech Surrey event which will take place on 12th November 2014.”