Malvern Festival of Innovation
At the beginning of October the UKESF took part in the Malvern Festival of Innovation, an annual week-long event showcasing the latest in social, technical and business innovation in a town recognised to be the UK’s epicentre for cyber security. The festival features a programme of talks, shows, workshops and networking opportunities, with different days dedicated to different audiences – from schoolchildren to established professionals.
As part of the Schools Outreach day on the 3rd, UKESF CEO Stew Edmondson facilitated three engaging ‘People Like Me’ sessions for a total of 74 female students from local secondary schools (Aston Fields, Malvern St James and Woodrush High). People Like Me is a revolutionary resource pack for girls aged 11–14, which uses a self-descriptive quiz to help them discover their strengths and what STEM-related careers could suit them.
Following the quiz, engineer Lowri Williams from Jaguar Land Rover gave an inspiring talk to the girls, describing her work on engine efficiency and decreasing emissions, and the opportunities her career has given her thus far to travel the globe testing out her ideas in different climates. Lowri explained her passion for finding solutions to problems and how engineering had been a perfect fit.
The festival will return in 2018.