Is there a better way to spend a Saturday?
For 250 members of the public, 80 volunteers and 20 members of really excited National STEM Centre staff, our answer to that question is, absolutely not!
It will be hard to top the STEM megajam at the National STEM Centre on 6 June 2015.
If you have never heard of the term ‘jam’ before and are currently wondering what 350 people were doing trying to spread megajam on their megatoast on a Saturday morning – let me explain…
A 'jam' is where volunteers and members of the public come together to share ideas and learn more about a particular technology or topic. The STEM megajam, was an awesome celebration of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, with hands on workshops, presentations and exhibitions running throughout the day.
Visitors experimented with 3D printing, got hands on with Raspberry Pi and learned about Tim Peake - the British astronaut heading to the International Space Station, and then tested their skills on the Lego Robotics maze challenge.
Over lunch, we watched as a toaster challenged one of the UK’s Fighting Robot Association robots to a fight with bits of toaster being swept up well into the afternoon (Robot 1, toaster 0)!
We had mathematics and science buskers from the University of York, raced balloon cars with the young members of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers, made mega bubbles with Manic Science, saw images through a Raspberry Pi telescope with PiKon and built wooden structures that raced to the floor above.
Visitors experimented with 3D printing, got hands on with Raspberry Pi and learned about Tim Peake
Events like these are only made possible with the kind support of organisations and volunteers that are willing to put in time and effort to share their skills, equipment and passion with those that want to learn. The National STEM Centre would like to say a massive thank you to everyone that came, played, experimented, tweeted and gave up their time on a very hot and sunny Saturday.