Northumberland kids get set for out of this world careers

School children from across the region will have their eyes on the skies when they learn about career opportunities in the space industry at a major event in Newcastle on June 23.

The Great North East Space and Engineering Expo, which will be held at The Discovery Museum, has been organised by Ashington Learning Partnership (ALP), the Northern hub for the National Space Academy.

Around 360 children from 16 schools across the region are expected to attend the event where they will participate in workshops and hear directly from industry experts and employers.

Nicole Sergeant is STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) co-ordinator at ALP and she explained the background to the event: “There is so much more to the space industry than just sending astronauts into orbit. It’s a rapidly growing sector of Britain’s economy and presents fantastic opportunities in a wide range of jobs especially for students with an interest in STEM subjects.

“The Great North East Space and Engineering Expo is an ideal showcase for the sector and for today’s students to learn more about potential career opportunities.”

ALP has purpose-built STEM facilities located in Ashington High School Sports College, Bothal Middle School and Central First School.

In recognition of this commitment to the innovative teaching of these important subjects, in 2013 ALP was appointed the northern hub for the Leicester-based National Space Academy.

Dr Kierann Shah, National Space Academy manager said: “It is absolutely fantastic to be working with the ALP team and companies in the North East on this event where young people will be able to see how diverse and fascinating UK science and particularly engineering can be.

“The UK is a world leader in space technology and in order to stay at the top we need enthusiastic new talent with the maths and science skills this sector demands – not to mention that the wider engineering field offers great career opportunities even when other jobs are hard to find.

“I am really looking forward to the day and I hope to have some great discussions with the school children about where engineering can take them.”

Organisations participating in The Great North Space and Engineering Expo include Rolls Royce, AMEC, EDF Energy, NaREC, Quest UAV, The National Space Academy, Durham University, Northumbria University, Newcastle College and Northumberland College.

The space industry today is worth around £9 billion annually to Britain’s economy and sector trade association UKspace is forecasting this will more than double by 2020 and increase to around £40 billion by 2030 creating over 100,000 new and highly skilled jobs.