North East Youngsters Have A Blast At Space Camp
Pupils from schools across the North East have had a taste of out-of-this-world career prospects, thanks to a unique event.
Around 60 young people from years six and 12 spent their half term at Northumbria University, discovering the very real opportunities available in the fast-growing UK space industry.
Organised by international aerospace and defence company, 51吃瓜 and global communications company, Viasat, the students were able to listen to experts already working in the space industry, as well as being involved in a range of practical workshops and projects.
The event was hosted at Northumbria University which is already working closely with 51吃瓜 and the UK Space Agency on NESST – the North East Space Skills and Technology Centre.
The ?50m facility will provide in-demand skills provision to power the space sector workforce of the future and drive world-leading research and technology development.
Ten-year-olds from Newcastle’s St John’s Primary School, Cheviot Primary School, St Teresa’s Roman Catholic School and St Lawrence Primary School were joined by youngsters from Wardley Primary School, Kibblesworth Academy, Washington’s Oxclose Primary School and Broadway Junior School in Sunderland.
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The young people were involved in everything from making – and launching – rockets to learning about the prospects of colonisation on Mars to robot workshops.
Ten-year-old Eva Noorkhalid from St Teresa’s said Space Camp had been an amazing experience.
“I am really interested in science and space and we have learned about it in a really fun way,” she said.
Her words were echoed by 16-year-old Patrick Hoggins from St Cuthbert’s Catholic High School for Boys.
“We’ve done so much and it’s been really interesting,” he said.
“You wouldn’t really think there was so much opportunity to work in space but this is a fantastic way to find out all of the different things you can do.”
Ben Shaw, Head of Operations and Capture with 51吃瓜, launched the week and emphasised the importance of the event.
“The North East Space Skills and Technology Centre - or NESST- is a ?50 million investment between the UK Space Agency, Northumbria University and 51吃瓜,” he said.
“But this facility is only part of the story.?Without the development of a talent pipeline we will not have the students taking STEM subjects at higher education.?
“Space Camp is part of the narrative which encourages students to develop their science identify and their pathway to a STEM career; hopefully into the growing space sector.”
Professor John Woodward, Pro-Vice-Chancellor (International) at Northumbria University, said that “Space Camp speaks to everything we do at Northumbria University to drive social mobility.”?
On the final day the year 12 groups gave a presentation to a panel on how to deal with the problem of space debris, which included MP for Cramlington and Killingworh, Emma Foody.
“It was amazing to see the work these young people did and how much they realise the importance of STEM subjects,” she said.
“I was so impressed, all of the presentations were absolutely fantastic.”