Search begins for county’s brightest young scientists
Students from Maidstone, Malling and Weald will showcase their science projects in front of a panel of industry experts.
The KM Bright Spark Awards, which aim to increase the cool factor of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), were launched this week at the Kent Innovation Hub in Sandwich.
The event was attended by judges of the awards from Golding Homes, Pfizer, ITL, Benenden Hospital Trust and Prendon Panels.
Robert Crook from Pfizer said: “It’s really important to get children enthused with science and build the next generation of scientists.”
Entries are now open for student teams with exciting projects that feature crosscurricular collaborations in STEM subjects.
The awards have a Dragon’s Den-style format, with students invited on stage to showcase projects with the chance to win prizes. The three categories are: innovation, investigation and invention.
Finalists will be filmed in advance at school to show the details of projects. The films will be screened at the event before the dragons begin their questioning.
Victoria Prenczek from Prendon Panels is keen to encourage more girls to enter the competition.
“As a businesswoman, it’s really important to me to encourage young girls to get involved in careers that are a bit out of the norm – perhaps in engineering or science,” she said.
The awards are open to primary and secondary school teams of all ages.
To submit a nomination, complete the simple online form at www.kmcharityteam. co.uk. The best entries will be invited to the competition final at the Kent Innovation Hub, Discovery Park, Sandwich on the first Friday in July, where the champions will be presented with £500.