The Big Bang fair took place in June this year and was such a huge success that funding has already been secured for it to take place again in 2015. The science and technology event took place at the University of Exeter and attracted thousands of students from all over the South West. Overall 8000 students attended the event and other similar fairs in Bristol and Bridgwater in the past year.
Education Business Partnership- South West have managed to secure the funding for another event to take place next year, providing a further opportunity to show students, teachers and parents the many career opportunities available in the fields of science, technology, engineering and maths (known collectively as STEM).
The Big Bang is a UK-based programme led by Engineering UK intending to inspire young people to become the future scientists and engineers that our country needs. The event aims to be a fun, interactive way to engage young people who are interested in a career within these sectors and to inspire them further by providing information on how they can pursue their passion in higher education and then hopefully on to future employment.
This year’s event included exciting theatre shows and activities and was also attended by leading scientists, engineers and mathematicians and no doubt next year will have all this and more following its huge success. Watch a video about this event below;
The partnership manager at Education Business Partnership- South West, Alex Ledbrooke, personally collected the funding contract from London and confirmed the date of next year’s fair as 25 June and the venue as the University of Exeter once more. Anyone who wishes to attend in 2015 will be able to register on the Big Bang Fair website nearer the date.
Although the main event will take place in Exeter, there will also be smaller events happening throughout the region. There will be opportunities for companies to get involved and if you are interested, updates about events will be posted here.
The Big Bang also runs The Big Bang @School, a programme for teachers which helps schools to host their own event to get students excited about STEM subjects. Schools can choose to make it as big or as small as they like, and are welcome to invite local businesses to get involved as well as STEM ambassadors and activity providers.
There are many opportunities for professionals to get involved in exciting events across the country by calling EBP-SW on 01392 215501 or emailing them at info@ebp-sw.org

Shona Wright
Shona covers all things editorial at TechSPARK. She publishes news articles, interviews and features about our fantastic tech and digital ecosystem, working with startups and scaleups to spread the word about the cool things they're up to.
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