Inzpire shows girls that careers in science are within reach
16 Feb 23
BlogSTEMYouth Engagement
As part of celebrations for the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we were delighted to host a fun-filled day of science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) for Year 6 girls from a local primary school.
The event, which took place on Friday 10 February, saw 23 girls from Waddington Redwood Primary Academy attend the Air Battlespace Training Centre (ABTC) at RAF Waddington, where they got to experience flight simulators used by the military, join interactive activities, and hear from inspirational women in the aerospace industry.
The pupils test out their model aircrafts
Kelly Bindemann, Gladiator Operations Manager in the ABTC, was one of the organisers. Her mission being to raise awareness of the varied and exciting opportunities in STEM to girls in their early years, while reinforcing the message that these careers are fully achievable.
She said: “We are absolutely delighted to host Waddington Redwood today in the ABTC. The girls will experience something new and exciting which will also be lots of fun. By doing this we hope to engender a love for STEM subjects and encourage these young ladies to follow their hearts as they start to plan their future.
“I must also say a huge thank you to the inspirational whole force team who have worked together to deliver such a fabulous event.”
The girls got to try out simulators used by the military
Alongside the ABTC military staff and Boeing Defence UK (BD UK), who also supported the event, Kelly arranged three aviation-themed activities to encourage maximum participation and enjoyment from the pupils.
From an aircraft modelling competition, where the girls worked in small groups to design and build a structure that would fly the furthest; to them flying in an airborne obstacle race around Anglesey on the desktop role player station; there was plenty of fun to be had and prizes to be won.
This culminated in the third and final activity where they were able to demonstrate their newfound flying skills to experience flying the RAF’s 5th generation fighter jet, the F-35, in an effects-based simulator.
“It is amazing to know what it feels like to fly and to be in the air.” said Jamie, age 10, after trying it out.
The learners experienced flying the F-35 effects-based simulator
Full of enthusiasm, the girls then had the opportunity to meet expert women in their field and to hear first-hand how the skills they had developed earlier in the day could translate to real careers in the future.
Those giving presentations included engineers Adeeba Mushtak and Sehrish Shabir from BD UK, and ABTC’s Strategic Director Emma Leonard who talked about her time in the military to date. From Inzpire, Kelly Bindemann shared her space expertise and Helen Seymour, the first female Typhoon pilot, spoke about her career.
Ms Fiona Kent, Headteacher at Waddington Redwood Primary Academy said: “Today we are giving the girls access to experiences and STEM that we just couldn’t provide in school. It gives them real-life role models that they can aspire to be like.”
At Inzpire, we are passionate about making the science and tech industry a more inclusive and inviting profession for women and girls of all backgrounds. We hope that through events like this we can promote the aspirations of the younger generation for many years to come.
Find out what else we’ve been up to for the International Day of Women and Girls in Science here.
The International Day of Women and Girls in Science
The International Day of Women and Girls in Science is a global celebration of the women who work and contribute to the major scientific findings that we see daily, in the past and future. The celebration allows us to honour women’s major achievements in technology and emphasises the need for women and girls to enter STEM careers. The day of recognition of women in STEM careers was implemented by UNESCO and UN-Women, to promote the full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls.
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20.03.23
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Phil joins us as a principal training consultant having spent 20 years as a training specialist in the MOD.
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