National Science Week in review

The Big Bang

The Big Bang Event in London was a fascinating and amazing event, and brought together all the very best in young scientists from across the UK. David Ault and Rebecca Kennedy were there for By Design and spoke to lots of the brightest STEM talent in the country. Lots of exhibitors were there too, showing off the range and depth of careers from a science background.

Meanwhile, the team here are busy calling schools within the East Midlands to find next year's crop of scientific stars. So if you or your school runs the CREST or Young Engineers award scheme, or if you have science clubs that you'd like to show off, do get in touch with our Festival Director, David Ault - davidault@bydesign-group.co.uk. It promises to be a fantastic, fun, free day celebrating all the talent that the East Midlands has to offer - and if you need any more convincing, take a look at the STEMNET Youtube channel, which gives some ideas for projects and testimony from East Midlands schools!

Register now, as places are limited – visit www.thebigbangfair.co.uk/eastmidlands/register.cfm

iRail 2011

The iRail event, organised by By Design, took place in The Roundhouse, Derby and was a huge success, bringing two all-female teams to the final of the iRail Engineering Challenge! Media mogul and rail enthusiast Pete Waterman judged the competition and was bowled over by the local talent. Rail Technology Magazine was also there, and have produced this document.

By Design was extremely proud of how the day went both from an organisational point of view and from the high levels of engagement from the staff and students. We are pleased to support the STEM learning of so many schools in the local area, and we look forward to seeing more young engineers in the rail industry as a result.

Science in the Park and others

At the same time, By Design supported the Science in the Park event at Wollaton Hall in Nottingham. The event was organised to help bring the science community to the general public, with a range of organisations showcasing their work from the Institute of Physics and Nottingham University to smaller organisations who were running experiments for the general public.

By Design took their ever popular Batak Board and Wattbike and ran an hourly competition to find Nottingham's Batak elite! Every hour an Easter Egg was given away to the highest scorer, drawing large crowds and even larger levels of competition! Overall, the day was a huge success, with the festival attracting approximately 2000 visitors. We look forward to taking part in more events to help support the Nottingham science community.

By Design was also recently part of a two day event held at the Cwmbran Stadium in South Wales, delivering six engaging workshops looking at how Science and Sport are linked. Students from five local schools were invited to take part in the event and due to its great success, it is hoped to be made into an annual event.

11th April 2011