The Big Bang Fair Yorkshire & Humber

Today we went to the Big Bang Fair at the Yorkshire Air Museum in Elvington. The event showcases the Science and Engineering projects of local secondary schools, with prizes awarded for the best in a number of categories.

Holly, on work experience with us from a school in Knaresborough, had worked with the Ensemble all week and came along to create an accessible music demo using a gamepad, sounds and lights.

The pupils picked it up really quickly and were making music with a gamepad in seconds!

MRI talk at Archbishop Holgates School, York

This morning I gave a talk at Archbishop Holgate's School, York on MRI technology as part of my role as a STEM Ambassador. Together with Kirsty Halliday from Geodesic Arts, we talked the pupils through the 'Me, Myself and MRI' project and specifically the process of undergoing an MRI scan.

The talk was sponsored by NYBEP and links in with the launch of the new education website for 'Me, Myself and MRI'. The exhibition is currently split between Archbishop Holgate's School, the York Neuro-imaging Centre and the Knaresborough Technology Park.

Inspirations at Elvington

Today Ben and I attended Inspirations 2010 held at the Yorkshire Air Museum - one of the events run by NYBEP to encourage STEM work (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).  We ran an exhibition stand allowing the school groups and teachers to have a play with the Apollo Ensemble and control some sounds and lights. The stand also featured one of the pieces from the 'Me, Myself and MRI' exhibition, allowing people to see how the Apollo technology could be integrated into different applications.

You can just see the edge of our stand on the right of this photo, dominated by the fantastic 'Angel of the North' sculpture by Bradford Girls' Grammar School pupil Amber Thiara.

We were really pleased to see that one of the students we had been working with from York College had his work on display as part of the competition. You can see a photo of Daniels full scale mock-up of an alternative Ensemble Hub enclosure on the Inspirations website.

Work with NYBEP

Apollo tries to work closely with education providers and trainers to help young people who might want to work in the Creative Industries. This includes providing work placements, year in industry opportunities and supporting other learning initiatives.

Today I was working with Jacki Dealtry from NYBEP, who is working with interactive sound and light equipment. She uses this as part of NYBEP's work to engage young people with science and technology as part of the STEM programme.