Syngenta Team inspire STEMFest 2024 Exhibition!
Syngenta colleagues inspired children and championed Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths at STEMFest 2024 hosted in West Yorkshire. Over 1,000 pupils and students attended the three day exhibition held in Bradford in July.
The exhibition brings together like-minded companies passionate about helping pupils and students learn about STEM careers and the importance that STEM plays in our everyday lives. Supporting the STEM Ambassador Network, our Syngenta team had designed and delivered a series of exhibits, to show the importance of agriculture in our lives and the challenges that we help farmers find solutions to. Children aged between 6 yrs and 12 yrs had to categorize insects into pollinator insects and pests and discuss how the farmer might manage his crops. Pupils had an opportunity for cosplay, dressing up as a farmer, a scientist and an engineer, before they were introduced to a miniature mock up of a manufacturing plant.
The exhibition was opened by West Yorkshire Mayor, Tracy Brabin
Students then had to manufacture a product from a recipe sheet by feeding raw materials (coloured balls) into charging pipes, clearing blockages when they appeared. The balls entered the vessel, where the status was of the vessel contents was displayed on the operator's panel via a camera. Children were allocated roles of plant manager, plant controller, materials handler and quality control and found the whole experience fun and engaging, with one pupil declaring it was the best stand at the show!! Teachers had also remarked on how tactile our exhibition was and that the children responded well to that.
Principal Data Scientist, Stephen Pearson said "It's great to have opportunities to excite and inspire young people in STEM subjects. We happily volunteered to get involved and came up with a creative way to tell the story of how science and manufacturing help farmers grow our food."
