Brooklands Innovation Academy – Inspiring Britain’s Future Scientists.

The Brooklands Innovation Academy inspires Britain’s budding future scientists, engineers, mathematicians and innovators; especially on a day when some 480 Year 8 pupils get the opportunity to try some of the 24 workshops put on by an array of businesses operating in the STEM space, including McLaren, Surrey Satellites, British Airways and Ringway. I joined in an analysis of detecting invisible particles hosted by Stanhope Seta, and Suzanne and I failed miserably with my two cadets Imogen and Grace in robotic coding to navigate our submarine led by BAE Systems. 

The activities were interspersed with some keynote inspirational speeches and the event was put on by the Science Summer School whose co-founders Lord Andrew Mawson and Professor Brian Cox, provided further inspiration. Events like this often provide a lightbulb moment in young people’s lives as they see the future possibilities that exist for them, before they embark on their GCSE studies. It was evident how absorbing the events and talks were by the hush during the tuition and the very astute questions that followed.

Huge thanks must go to the sponsors of the event, Haleon, BAE Systems and  Stanhope-Seta; together with Alex Patterson and the amazing team at Brooklands Museum for providing such an inspirational setting and a huge number of volunteers, supported by the Bourne Education Trust.