PPMA best STEM day at Silverstone turbocharges STEM education

PPMA BEST held the STEM day at Silverstone, one of the best motor racing race circuits in the world. Over 100 parents and children attended the PPMA BEST STEM day in the Silverstone Experience. The families were addressed by Richard Little Chair of the PPMA BEST Trustees, and Shard structural engineer and STEM advocate Roma Agrawal MBE.

Roma has been an advocate for STEM education for over eight years and has written several books such as ‘How Was That Built’ a book aimed at informing young people about engineering.

Roma said, “I had a total blast speaking to families at the PPMA Best Silverstone STEM day event against the backdrop of racing cars. It's so important to show young people that STEM careers, in particular engineering, are a brilliant option, and days like these are a vital piece of that work.”

After the talks, the children were then able to try their hand at building simple robots with PPMA BEST Co-ordinator Matt Fox, and his partner Jo, before returning for lunch and a tour of the Silverstone Museum, but not before some of the children were awarded prizes for teamwork. One team member Hayden Favier, 12 from Bicester said, “I really enjoyed the day, especially the STEM session. It has inspired me as I love building and construction.‘’

PPMA Director and PPMA BEST Chairman, Richard Little said, “The PPMA BEST day at Silverstone was a great opportunity for a sizable bunch of kids to find out more about why engineering is a career to consider and to engage with a very motivated bunch of engineers – their parents – and together to hear from an inspiring speaker and to actually try out some control theory and teamwork. We hope the message is clear that engineering is a great way to enjoy work and be creative and make the world a better place. It was a great day with lots of kids, lots of things to learn, lots of engagement and lots of things to do – and a very good reason to do more such days in the future. Like the great sci-fi author Isaac Asimov said, Science can amuse and fascinate us all, but it is engineering that changes the world.”