Children get the chance to ask top scientists and engineers questions about their role in the pandemic
The #BigBangDigital 2020 – #STEM & Covid-19 event
Following research which reveals almost nine in ten young people do not think scientists (89%) or politicians (92%) are talking to them when discussing COVID-19, The Big Bang is launching a one-day event to help them find out more about how scientists and engineers have been and continue to be vital in the fight against the virus.
The event includes a talk by environmental charity, Plastic Oceans UK, featuring content from Sir David Attenborough. There’s also a chance for young people to put their coronavirus questions to world-renowned scientists including Sir Jeremy Farrar and Nobel Prize winner and director of the Crick Institute, Sir Paul Nurse.
The Big Bang Digital – Science, Engineering & Covid-19 will take place on Tuesday 14th July at 10am
Aimed at those aged 11+ the free online event on Tuesday 14th July will give young people a front row view of the incredible contribution of scientists, healthcare professionals, engineers, technicians and students in responding to Covid-19.
The Big Bang Digital 2020 – science, engineering & Covid-19 is a celebration of the work of scientists and engineers in a pandemic
Aimed at aged 11+ it’s a day of inspiring online sessions to give young people a front row view of the incredible contribution of scientists, healthcare professionals, engineers, technicians and students in responding to Covid-19.
The event includes a talk by environment charity Plastic Oceans UK, featuring exclusive videos from Sir David Attenborough, a session where young people can learn about vaccines and immunity from the UK’s leading scientists, a talk with a creative engineer who designed an electronic lanyard that gives off an alert when people are too close to encourage social distancing, to name a few.
To watch The Big Bang Digital 2020 – science, engineering & Covid-19, live please visit www.digitalbigbang.co.uk on Tuesday 14th July, from 10am.
WHEN: Tuesday 14th July 2020, from 10am until 4pm
WHERE: www.digitalbigbang.co.uk
PRICE: FREE
WHAT: Online event for young people (11+) taking and inspirational, uplifting look at the essential role of science and engineering in a pandemic
Big Bang Digital 2020 – science, engineering & Covid-19 is a celebration of the work of scientists and engineers in a pandemic.
The non-for-profit organisation is hosting free back to back sessions designed to give young people an understanding and appreciation of the incredible contribution scientists, healthcare professionals, engineers, technicians and students have made in responding to Covid-19.
TV & Radio Science Presenter, Podcaster & YouTuber Greg Foot will be hosting live, exploring the topic with a range of guests, putting audience questions to the experts and bringing his usual energy and enthusiasm to the day.
The event includes a talk by environment charity Plastic Oceans UK, featuring exclusive videos from Sir David Attenborough, a session where young people can learn about vaccines and immunity from the UK’s leading scientists, a talk with a creative engineer who designed an electronic lanyard that gives off an alert when people are too close to encourage social distancing, to name a few.
#BigBangDigital 2020 will be an uplifiting day of short, inspiring online sessions for students aged 11+ looking at all aspects of #STEM in a pandemic. #Science #Technology #Engineering #Maths #STEMevent #STEMatHome #STEMcareers https://t.co/jUVGysQz72
— The Big Bang Fair (@BigBangFair) July 6, 2020
The sessions will vary in how long they are and many will be followed by a live Q&A with the host.
Big Bang Digital 2020 – science, engineering & Covid-19 will see the following sessions taking place:
- Environment Agency: Rebuilding a greener future
- Plastic Oceans UK: New habits to protect the planet: the environmental impact of staying at home
- GSK: The worldwide race to develop a vaccine
- RS Components: Designing a social distancing lanyard
- Harper Adams University: Feeding the nation
- Thames Water: Keeping the water flowing
- Network Rail: Staying on track: keeping the railway moving
- Imperial College London: Designing a low-cost ventilator
- BBC Gastronaut Stefan Gates: I can STEM a rainbow
- Ask the experts: your questions about the virus
- Young talent against Covid-19: Presenter Fayon Dixon in conversation with inspiring young people, all Big Bang Competition winners, talking about their role in the pandemic response.
To watch, learn about and celebrate the incredible contribution of scientists, healthcare professionals, engineers, technicians and students in responding to the pandemic at Big Bang Digital 2020 – science, engineering & Covid-19, please visit www.digitalbigbang.co.uk on Tuesday 14th July, from 10am.
Big Bang Digital 2020 – science, engineering & Covid-19 takes place online on Tuesday 14 July. The event celebrates the amazing work of scientists and engineers in the pandemic and aims to show young people aged 11+ the incredible things you can achieve working in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths).
The event is a day of inspiring online sessions, including live Q&As, to give young people a front row view of the incredible contribution of scientists, healthcare professionals, engineers, technicians and students in responding to Covid-19.
CONFIRMED SESSIONS:
GSK: The worldwide race to develop a vaccine
Join GSK’s workshop to learn more about what a vaccine is, how vaccines work and how they are collaborating with partners across the globe in response to COVID-19. The world is racing to develop a vaccine. It’s a complex challenge but there are promising signs with around 120 vaccine programmes worldwide and human trials starting recently in the UK. This workshop explores how GSK are researching medicines and vaccines to treat and prevent COVID-19 – you’ll also discover a process that scientists use in their labs everyday that you can use at home.
Plastic Oceans UK: New habits to protect the planet: the environmental impact of staying at home
COVID-19 is rightly the world’s biggest focus at the moment but plastic pollution in our oceans hasn’t gone away. In fact, it might even have got worse! Join Christian Brighty, from Plastic Oceans UK, in this interactive session about how you can make a positive difference right now. With exclusive videos from Sir David Attenborough and a look at the latest cutting-edge science, we explore the important question of ‘How do we change our habits to protect the planet, at a time like this?’
RS Components: Don’t stand so close to me: designing a social distancing lanyard
Join electronics engineer, Nathan Ruttley, to find out how you can build a handy social distancing lanyard that lights up to alert you when you come too close to another person! Nathan, winner of the ‘BrightSparks 30 top Engineers under 30’ in 2019, will talk through how he came up with the remarkable idea and the journey from designing a prototype to building a fully working product. In this session, you’ll find out what you need to make one for yourself at home, including how you can personalise your lanyard and make it unique by creating a custom case.
Harper Adams University: Feeding the nation
Learn how automated technology and drones are used in socially distant farming and follow the ‘field to fork’ journey food takes – in this case, pizza dough!
During the pandemic the food industry has been relying automated technology more than ever. Join Rachel and Nicola as they look at how and where the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the food sector. You’ll hear about the impact on how we produce and process food, from the changing demand in our supermarkets to the lack of access to fast food. Follow up the session with activities to do at home.
Thames Water: Keeping the water flowing
“While we are all staying home, who is keeping the water running? Thames Water have played their part, supporting workers across the UK to keep essential services running. Science and technology is a huge part of their business. With 15 million customers to stay in touch with and more than 85,000 miles of pipes to monitor 24/7 – that’s enough to go around the world 3.5 times. Technology helps them manage these challenges every day, especially during the pandemic when they are having to adapt to a new way of working.
Meet Thames Water’s Akhil Vyas, Andrew Tucker and Liz Banks to hear how they are getting to grips with the changes, staying connected to customers and keeping their teams, who are out on the frontline, safe. You’ll also find out what innovations are set to last, even after COVID-19.
Young talent against Covid-19 – in conversation with Big Bang Competition winner meeting the challenge head on
Presenter Fayon Dixon in conversation with inspiring young people, all Big Bang Competition winners, talking about their role in the pandemic response, studying in lockdown and sharing tips for competition success. Design engineer student and GSK UK Young Engineer 2018, Josh Mitchell, has been helping get low-cost 3D printers into African hospitals so they can produce their own PPE. Zuzana Hudáčová was a Competition winner this year. She is about to begin an internship where she’ll be helping to develop a Covid-19 diagnostic test.
Environment Agency: Rebuilding a greener future: tackling the climate emergency
Join Jayne, Ayo and Jessie to explore how we can rebuild a greener future. The Environment Agency is committed to tackling the climate emergency and building more resilient communities who can adapt to and bounce back from the impacts of climate change.
In this session they’ll share some of the challenges they’ve had to overcome. They’ll explore how the impact of the pandemic on the way we work and how we relate to each other, the behaviour changes we have seen during lockdown and most importantly, what positive lessons we can build on when the country returns to ‘normal’.
Network Rail: Staying on track: keeping the railway moving
Hear how Network Rail is working to keep vital goods moving and train services running for essential workers during lockdown. The coronavirus outbreak has put great pressure on the railways and teams across the nation are working tirelessly to keep vital services moving, ensuring key workers can continue their essential journeys and to get urgent supplies to supermarket shelves and to the NHS.
Learn more how teams across the network have had to adopt new ways of working to ensure those who need to travel can reach their destinations safely and how the rail freight industry is working together to keep the country moving.
Imperial College London: Designing a low-cost ventilator
Hear from the team behind ‘JAMVENT’, a low-cost emergency ventilator, developed by bioengineers at Imperial College London in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. In this session you’ll learn why ventilation is needed, how breathing works and how to build and test a ventilator.
Ventilators are used when an infection stops people being able to breathe on their own. When more ventilators were needed at the start of the pandemic, a national challenge was set to design a ventilator that does all of the complicated things needed to keep someone alive, but is also easy to make in large numbers. Find out how the team set about designing a new approach, bringing together maths and science with engineering and medicine to help save lives. Discover how they created ‘JAMVENT’ and developed the tools to test it by mimicking the physics of human lungs.
Explosion of colour – a Gastronaut adventure
BBC Gastronaut Stefan Gates and his daughter Poppy embark on a stunning scientific adventure through the colours of the rainbow in a show filmed in the Gastrolab. Dedicated to all the key workers working so hard for us all, the show is packed with spectacular, colourful science demos using glowing drinks, colour-changing breath, sugar explosions, edible insects and the world’s weirdest giant whoopee cushion. Stef and Poppy explore the visible spectrum and beyond, using infra-red cameras, UV lights, leafblowers, marshmallows and quite a lot of rockets.
Ask the experts: your questions about the virus
In this live Q&A young people put their coronavirus questions to world-renowned scientists, Sir Jeremy Farrar and Sir Paul Nurse. Students from across the country lead the conversations as they put their challenging questions to the experts live on air. Nobel Prize winner and director of the Crick Institute, Sir Paul Nurse has helped turn Europe’s largest biomedical research centre into a giant testing facility during the pandemic and Wellcome Trust director, Sir Jeremy Farrar, has been advising the government on Covid-19 as a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE). Jeremy is recognised internationally for his outstanding contributions to the field of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, dengue fever and influenza. Paul has had a distinguished career in genetics and cell biology and his discoveries have helped to explain the control of cell growth and duplication.
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