LTI have started regular lunch time catch ups with inspiring people who are working in the field of innovation and technology. The first of our talks was with Maggie Philbin, co-founder and CEO of an initiative in schools called TeenTech, an award winning organisation helping young people understand the opportunities available in Science and Technology. Some of you may also recognise Maggie from her presenting work on Swap Shop, Tomorrow’s World and more recently Bang Goes the Theory. Maggie is also Chair of of the UK Digital Skills Taskforce which published a report last July on the digital skills gap.
Maggie talked to us about why she started TeenTech; the programme aims to inspire young people, particularly those who might not have traditionally thought of a career in science and technology. She is passionate about encouraging girls and children from lower income backgrounds to widen their career options. TeenTech run events around the UK to bring in young people from schools to be inspired by those from industry, commerce and the HE sector. The TeenTech event in London which is held at the Olympic Park in December, is open to Year 8 and 9 students from schools across London and they have a chance to meet 200 scientists, engineers and technologists and engage in fun but highly participatory learning.
TeenTech also run a competition for schools where young people work in teams of up to three to look at solving problems and finding better ways of doing things. Awards are given out at the prestigious event held each June at the Royal Society. My LTI colleagues were really pleased to have a chance to hear about this initiative and Milan Popvocic said he wished something like TeenTech existed when he was at school as he would have definitely got involved. [jwplayer mediaid=”3904″]
Sarah Leach from LTI told me: “The support and commitment from industry, commerce and the HE sector and the hands on nature of the TeenTech events is quite awe inspiring. I think for any student attending the event, whether they are driven by technology and science or not, would feel excited and inspired to try out new ideas and new ways of thinking. Maggie’s initiative is focused on the less privileged, it bridges the gap between school education and industry and gives teenagers vital contacts and role models in areas that they may never have known about.
The event is then followed up by the TeenTech award so that students attending have an avenue to channel their ideas and winners get ongoing support to progress their ideas. Theirs a strong sense of community about the initiative as well, more privileged schools are encouraged to support less resourced schools in their area and there’s a growing number of volunteer mentors. Attending students then feed back in assembles, news reports and webpages extending the reach. The events are run at different locations across the UK and typically in areas that are less resourced and may not have access to those networks. It was a really inspiring talk, big thanks to Jane for organising it.”
