Science Students see Bright Future in Hi-Tech Business
2009-05-02
Daresbury Science & Innovation Campus (Daresbury SIC) has welcomed back a group of young scientists as part of its exciting new programme aimed at inspiring the future generation of hi-tech innovators.
Year 12 science students from Riverside College (Runcorn and Widnes) and St Chad's Catholic High School (Runcorn) are the first cohort of the Daresbury SIC Student Mentoring Programme. The initiative, set up by entrepreneurs working in the Daresbury Innovation Centre, aims to give students a clearer insight into possible careers in science, innovation and entrepreneurship.
In the first cohort, 10 entrepreneurs from the Campus are each participating with a student to provide an insight into opportunities possible with an A Level qualification in science. A £100 award, sponsored jointly by the participating company and Daresbury SIC, has been given to each successful student approved onto the scheme.
The programme involves close interaction between a mentor entrepreneur based at Daresbury SIC and the student throughout the course of their year 12 studies. Students are given a first-hand introduction to the workings of a growing hi-tech company, and to how cutting-edge technology is harnessed to develop a commercial product or service.
In the meeting held at the Daresbury Innovation Centre students shared their experiences to date and heard about the benefits of a career in science and innovation from Campus staff.
Craig Peacock, a student from Riverside College mentored by Lisa Layzell of Thinspace, is delighted with the opportunities the scheme has given him. Craig said: "I'm planning to study software engineering at university and the mentoring scheme has given me the opportunity for some training with Microsoft. The scheme has also helped me see scientists in a different light - it's not all lab coats."
Chelsea Hatfield of St Chad's, mentored by Manoj Ranaweera of edocr.com, added: "I'm hoping to study forensics at university and the mentoring scheme has given me an opportunity to make contacts in the industry. As for the £100 award for making it onto the programme - it's still in the bank!"
Maureen Gibson, Head of Science at St Chad's, said: "The hands-on nature of this programme is ideal for inspiring our future generation of scientists, and we're delighted to be a part of it. Our visit to Daresbury provided further confirmation of how much world-class science we have on our doorstep, and we look forward to the students taking every possible advantage to gain inspiration and insight from it. Our students have really had their eyes opened to the huge opportunities available to them when they study science, and this is one of the ways we'll be promoting science to next year's cohort of sixth formers."
Robert Wakeling, Managing Director of mobile telecommunications company Wadaro, said: "Wadaro is in business because its founders are passionate about the technology we have to offer. We're really enjoying communicating some of that passion to budding scientists - and inspiring them to become part of the future generation of successful hi-tech entrepreneurs."
