Inspiring Young People Into STEM - Why Is It Important?

About Dr Elaine Hickmott

Profession: Independent Talent Development Specialist 

About Elaine: Love STEM, learning and being creative. Through my consultancy I help people invest in their professional and career development. My adventure began with a PhD in Chemistry followed by experience as an industrial chemist and working in corporate business leadership roles. I've happily gone from boiler-suit to boardroom and beyond. 

Elaine's Twitter Handle - @ElaineHickmott 

Tell us why you think it is important in today's world, to inspire young people into STEM and where applicable, why you and or your organisation gets involved and what you get out of it. 

"When I started to write this piece I hit a block.  I have lots to say about STEM talent and its global importance but I just wasn’t feeling it.  All I could hear in my head was, “blah, blah, blah!”

So I took a mental step back.  Forget stagnant statistics and pipeline predictions; this had to be personal. 

I let my mind wander and imagined being reunited with my 16-year old self.  What would I say to her?

The answer is quite simply, “Thank you!”

Choosing to do three science A-levels all those years ago was an inspired move.  Not because I had a burning desire to become a Nobel prize-winning scientist or a globe-trotting engineer.  Because I somehow recognised a STEM-based education (though we didn’t call it that in the olden days) would be a powerful platform for building a successful career.

I didn’t have aspirations to change the world.  And I didn’t know any scientists or engineers.  My logic was straightforward...following the science path, although challenging for me (I was definitely better at languages), would be more likely to lead to better jobs.  Plus, I could come back to the other stuff later.

And guess what, I was right.

Starting with a foundation of science has helped me build a rewarding and varied career while making a difference along the way.  It helped me go from boiler-suit to boardroom; chemistry to colostomy bags; bullet proof vests to blast furnaces... and beyond.

Jump forward to present day and into the future, STEM is a thread which unites us all.  It’s everywhere every day.  In fact, it is so embedded in our lives that now, more than ever before, being switched onto STEM is definitely a launch pad for many amazing adventures."

In relation to the above question, in your experience, what is getting better or worse and what in your view, are the barriers to sustained success and what do you see as the best way forward? 

"Inspiration is a personal thing and where it comes from is unpredictable and often random.  Exposure to rich and varied experiences definitely increases the chances of those sparks and marvellous ‘aha’ moments.  This is true of life and it’s certainly true in relation to STEM.

Fortunately, over recent years there has been a marked increase in STEM-related experiences for young people.  Many of them involve interaction with real people who bring the human element needed for accessibility and engagement.

Young people interacting as equals with others outside of usual school, family and peer groups; getting involved with new STEM-related experiences help to generate a positive energy.  A positive vibe which helps create a fertile ground for inspiration to strike.  It’s brilliant. 

But... Yes, you knew there was a ‘but’ coming! 

My personal perspective is that there is a challenge linked to context.

STEM is a big picture subject.  It’s not just about becoming scientist x or engineer y.  For example, if you watch a recent episode of the BBC’s Supermarket Secrets, it perfectly demonstrates the breadth and power of STEM in one sector alone.  And it shows that harnessing the power of STEM is not only about becoming a scientist or engineer.

Artificial intelligence being used to monitor customer behaviour while still upholding data protection rules.  Think feet.  Virtual reality taking the place of marketing focus groups.  Cauliflower waste being turned into a sustainable material for keeping vegetables fresh.  The circular economy in action.

Giving a wider context of where a STEM education might lead could actually act like a mini Trojan horse.  Reaching and resonating with young people in a different way.  Ultimately creating those unexpected sparks of inspiration which help people to set off on their own personal STEM adventures."

- Dr Elaine Hickmott 

Benedikt Schultes - Summer STEM Work Placement Student - Weekly Reports

The STEM placement students are sending us weekly blogs all about their experience in the world of work! 

Work experience is great and it provides students with many benefits whilst gaining skills and helping choose the right future career path for pupils. Having work experience on a Curriculum Vitae will make a person stand out to employers as they will notice they have motivation and a real passion for work. It will also help to boost a students confidence in themselves!

                                         

                                          See how Benedikt is getting on with his STEM placement! 

Week One

"I have already learnt a great deal about microelectronics in the few days that I have spent at the University of Surrey so far. Dr Radu Sporea and his PhD student, Eva Bestelink are both extremely kind and helpful in the placement. Eva has quickly taught me all I have to know about thin film transistors (TFT), source-gated transistors (SGT), amplifiers, circuits, and the physics behind these devices, as well as how to program them into SILVACO DeckBuild and TonyPlot using ATLAS and SPICE. I started by building a simple TFT and analysed its source and gate voltages and progressed onto analysing the output characteristics of SGTs, or running circuits and analysing their current-voltage characteristics through the transient piecewise linear method. I have gotten many research materials as well as a student card (giving me access to the university library), so I have more than enough resources to learn from and write my report. I cannot wait to start the actual research part of the project soon, now that we have covered all the required knowledge. Both Radu and Eva are impressed with the progress I have made and we are in a good position to progress very soon. Finally, I also got some time to work on a fun little side project, where I have to build a circuit and solder the components together to make and LED dice." 

Week Two

"My supervisors Radu and Eva were away on a conference in Spain for a few days this week, which meant that I got some reading and research to do at home to prepare for the 'actual' work that lay ahead. I felt very ready after the few days just revising and learning from home, as there was a lot of interesting content covered in the first week which I now grasped fully and was eager to start the research part of the placement. At the end of the week, we started by analysing the transfer and output characteristics of an enhancement mode and a depletion mode SGT. I faced quite a few challenges with the depletion mode SGT, as it is supposed to be normally on a device, meaning that there is always current flowing through it, however, there was a problem with the doping in the code, and it took a while until we had identified what it was and got the code working again. Once we were happy with the two devices, we were able to plug them into the circuit and analyse the DC characteristics, showing that the devices were very good at amplifying signals." 

Week Three 

"This week was very challenging. We started off by testing a control device that we can later compare to the new device and see if the improvement that we expect is really there. This was also important to check all the code and make sure that everything is working so that we can test the new device as best as possible. Both the DC and AC analysis involved a lot of troubleshooting, and nothing worked out the way we wanted it to at first. In the end, there was a short line of code in the DC analysis which was not supposed to be there and had severely affected our results, and we were using values that were off by only 0.01 in the AC analysis, which changed the output from 200 to 20000, or more. I learnt a lot about what its like to do proper research this week, and how you have to always stay focused, creative and work well in a team in order to solve the challenges that you face, otherwise it will be much harder to solve them." 

Week Four 

"This was my last week at the University of Surrey, and it was definitely the most interesting because we started getting some results. The week was mostly running simulations in the background, while I plotted data from the previous simulations. We found very high gain in some devices, and more linear behaviour in other, which is what we were looking for. 

We tested many different amplifier circuit configurations and devices, leading to different and interesting results. Finally, we ran the simulations in SILVACO, but plotted the graphs in Origin, because it was much better for processing data that way. Although we did not entirely find what we were looking for yet, I am really glad to have been a part of the foundational research for this project, and I'm excited to hear about where it will go next, and will definitely stay in touch with Radu and Eva. I loved my SATRO experience, and would definitely recommend it further."

- Benedikt Schultes 

Volunteers Week 2019

Here at SATRO, we owe a huge thank you to our volunteers. They are vital to us and we certainly couldn’t do what we do without them! We know it is important that volunteers feel valued and that their employers know their staff have had a productive and positive experience with us. Many of our volunteers sign up so they can ‘make a difference’ to young people and are frequently surprised by how much they have learnt from the experience themselves. 

We asked Steve from UNUM who volunteers as a Mentor for SATRO why he does it? Here's what he had to say... 

"The most important factor to consider for me is the balance between your own personal development and feeling like you are giving something back. The opportunity to work as a volunteer (Mentor) for SATRO arrived through my workplace Unum, who have very strong partnerships in the local community and a strong culture of giving back. What I have gained from the experience of mentoring Year 10 & 11 students at Therfield School has been, improved listening skills, patience, resilience, perseverance and finally reward. To be a part of a young person’s development at such an important point in their lives is truly a privilege." - Steve, UNUM

Volunteers Week 2019

Here at SATRO, we owe a huge thank you to our volunteers. They are vital to us and we certainly couldn’t do what we do without them! We know it is important that volunteers feel valued and that their employers know their staff have had a productive and positive experience with us. Many of our volunteers sign up so they can ‘make a difference’ to young people and are frequently surprised by how much they have learnt from the experience themselves. 

We asked Nick from Sanofi who volunteers as a Mentor for SATRO why he does it? Here's what he had to say... 

"Next week I'll be visiting with my year 11 student for the last time as she starts her GCSE's the very next day. It's been an amazing journey for us, it all began with a tour of the school where she declared "This is like meeting my dad for the first time" I replied with the obvious dad joke, "I'm pretty sure I'm not your father!" and our relationship went from there with the same openness and innocence as that opening conversation.

I joined SATRO thinking that it would be like Good Will Hunting, I thought there would be this Math’s genius who needed help setting their talent free, but I quickly realised that there were more pressing issues that the school wanted our help with.

It was confirmed after a few visits that the students of the scheme were in a special group of students who had difficult backgrounds and as such they wanted us to be there for them. That was a relief to me as it meant that I went from trying to push complicated ideas and concepts to just being there. And I made the amazing student a promise at that point (more on her later), I'm going to prove to her that in her life there's going to be a guy that always shows up, that's it, I'm going to relentlessly show up for her, listen to her and show her that we can be nice, dependable and be there for her.

Turns out that was all she ever needed, no algebra on a blackboard or hypothesis, she just needed to know that she was worthy of being listened to, and hopefully those GCSE's will take care of themselves as a result... (fingers crossed)

So if you're thinking of volunteering.. go do it, it might just change lives." - Nick, SANOFI 

Volunteers Week 2019

Here at SATRO, we owe a huge thank you to our volunteers. They are vital to us and we certainly couldn’t do what we do without them! We know it is important that volunteers feel valued and that their employers know their staff have had a productive and positive experience with us. Many of our volunteers sign up so they can ‘make a difference’ to young people and are frequently surprised by how much they have learnt from the experience themselves. 

A thank you note to our wonderful Volunteers from our Chairman, Howard Railton: 

“What SATRO delivers reflects the fantastic pool of Volunteers that we have who give so much of their time and enthusiasm to help us deliver a wide range of outstanding programmes.  STEM education and skills are a national crisis. Our Volunteers understand that the long-term future of business, innovation and invention in the UK depends on trying to do something about it. SATRO is engaged at the grass roots of education and delivers effective and inspiring STEM programmes for young people. We can only do this by harnessing the knowledge and professional experience of our volunteers without whom, SATRO would not be able to do any of these wonderful things.  Thank you all.” - Howard Railton, SATRO Chairman. 

Local Charities Day 2018

Local Charities Day 2018

Born in Austria on November 9th 1914, Hedy Lamarr (Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler) grew up to be one to the most beautiful and gifted Hollywood actresses of the 1940s starring in a range of classic high grossing MGM films.

Unknown to the public she was also a talented inventor. Her burning desire was to be a scientist and although untrained produced some ground breaking innovations.

Her first husband was an Austrian armaments manufacturer and Hedy, a young actress, was able to mix with scientists and professionals in military technology. This first awakened her to the field of applied science. Unhappy, in 1936, she decided to divorce and leave Europe for the USA and Hollywood where her acting career would quickly blossom.

Her second husband was Howard Hughes, a film producer, aviator and inventor. She advised him on the aerodynamic shape of his aircraft designs. Recognising her genius he made available his staff and workshops so she could develop her ceaseless flow of ideas.

In 1940, WW2 was looming and the US Government set up the National Inventors Council to coordinate potential military inventions from the public. Hedy wanted to join but instead was advised to use her Film Star status to campaign for War Bonds, collecting funds for the war effort.

This did not stop Hedy inventing. She thought that military radio frequencies could be easily jammed, especially for radio controlled torpedoes. Her solution was a method now called frequency hopping. In collaboration with a pianist friend they miniaturised automatic piano player devices and synchronised them. Instead of playing piano tunes, different radio frequencies would  substitute the key notes allowing a message to be communicated across the radio spectrum.

Hedy patented their system but it was dismissed by the military. She later discovered her invention had been used in secret by the US Navy and won Government compensation.

Hedy Lamarr was finally recognised in 1997, winning the US Electronic Frontier Foundation Pioneer Award and in 2014 posthumously inducted into the US National Inventors Hall of Fame. She died on 19th January 2000 aged 85.

Hedy's greatest invention lives on! The frequency hopping method is incorporated into Bluetooth and WiFi electronics of Smartphones and mobile devices to help keep our communication secure.

Blog written by John Faulkner, SATRO Volunteer