Encourage. Inspire. Develop.
A celebration of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics inspired by
Ada Lovelace Day.
Sunday the 1st October 2017
Festival runs from 09:30 until 16:00
Get your free entry and workshop tickets!
Our mission is to provide a day of fun activities to celebrate and to experience the wonders of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics – a free event to attend, designed especially for families and young people.
Peterborough STEM Festival is proud to be an official Ada Lovelace Day event.
What we did last year…
Saturday October 1st 2016 saw us open the doors of the Allia Future Business Centre and host the first ever Peterborough STEM festival.
Exhibitors
Mini Explosions
Hot air balloons
Polarisation
Hand model & Handy engineering
Tangrams
Rocks and fossils
Near IR webcam
Prism goggles & Ear switching hat
Sounds from an oven shelf
Learn how you can showcase your broadcasting talent both in front of, and behind, the microphone with the help of Peterborough’s best community radio station.
We will be streaming parts of the festival live on Facebook! Make sure you ‘like’ our page.
Find out more about the amazing female technology pioneers and how they continue to influence us today.
Special guest Suw Charman-Anderson, founder of Ada Lovelace day will be joining us during the day!
Solve a series of puzzles and challenges with a mathematical twist by thinking outside the box!
Join GPUTC to find more from Pepper our 4 foot Humanoid Robot and Vex.
See some cool model rockets on display (and maybe even get launched), along with model rocket starter sets to purchase.
Be sure to bring some pocket money!
Unravel the structure of DNA with our sequence bracelets and compare your genetic characteristics with other visitors by seeing which smells and tastes your genes enable you to detect. Scientists from the Wellcome Genome Campus near Cambridge will be on hand to talk about their research on genomics.
Activities will include fingerprinting, DNA techniques and recovery of eye fluids for drug analysis.
* Fingerprint matching
* Secret writing
* DNA gel electrophoresis demo
* Put organs in the right order
* Eye Ball dissection!
Take part in our interactive Treasure Hunt. Find the clues scattered around the venue, solve the puzzle and win a prize!
Collect your Treasure Hunt sheet at registration.
Have you heard of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum? What about Atari, Amiga and Commodore computers? Come along and have a go at programming one of these classic 1980s systems and see how the software and games have been given new life on modern hardware. Learn about building your own DIY gaming systems and why programming is accessible to everyone!
Explore working exhibits of portable internal combustion engine used for providing mechanical power before the invention of the electric motor.
Using punchcards and a wooden mallet, you can programme Minecraft!
Come and have a go at our drop in session and get hands-on. Suitable for all ages.
There will be displays connected to a Raspberry Pi, monitor, keyboard and mouse. Each Raspberry Pi will be preloaded with an example Python program where the user can change digit segments and colours to be displayed in the Python Code.
We will be showcasing the first ORY product to give observers a chance to see how the planets move around the solar system!
Workshops & Sessions
Bookable Workshops – tickets available now!
Explore the world of water
Can you create a cloud? Let us show you how.
What happens when we get too much rain? As towns and cities grow and the population increases, more of our region has been covered by ‘hard surfaces’. This means that there is less opportunity for rainwater to soak away naturally creating greater risks of our drainage systems being overwhelmed, causing localized flooding. The News headlines show the changing weather patterns, the impacts of climate change and the devastation caused to communities by flooding. Use our Sustainable Urban Drainage model to investigate how different surfaces and technologies can impact on local flooding.
Innovation Lab Tours
Please, come and visit the Innovation Lab where new ideas become new things. Inventors and engineers spend their time at the Innovation Lab tinkering with gadgets to find smart new ways to use them or create the next fantastic thingy that we will all need. Spend some time to meet the Innovation Lab team and see the fab stuff they use everyday.
NO PRE-BOOKING REQUIRED.
Check out the tour times on the day of the Festival.
Raspberry Pi Workshops
You are going to learn to program in Python and there will be disasters!
Author of Adventures in Minecraft, by day, Martin O’Hanlon is a software engineer who design computer products. By night, he play’s Minecraft and develops exciting new programs that interact with the Minecraft world. Bring your copy of ‘Adventures in Minecraft’ for signing by Martin!
Build Challenge
Create your best build in 30 minutes!
8 people per session, 5 sessions, tablets provided.
10am Western
11am Space
12am Underwater
2pm Spooky
3pm Elemental
Virtual Reality Taster Sessions
Experience Virtual Reality with Riselabs as we don one of our two HTC Vive Headsets to explore creative applications like TiltBrush and Google Blocks, play games like The Lab and Space Pirates and journey the world in Google Earth. Or if you fancy exploring the world of Minecraft in VR then book a place on our Oculus Rift headset and become fully emersed.
Five minute slots available, book your spot to experience amazing Virtual Reality through creative, exploration and gaming applications
Coding for beginners workshop
Get lost in space, have a chat with your computer or build your own racing game! At Code Club young coders (recommended ages 7-11) will learn how to program simple games and animations using the visual, block-based programming language Scratch. ** Only one ticket is required per computer. Parents / carers are welcome to stay and help out (and learn!) **
Hosted by volunteers from Code Club Peterborough.
RAF
Come and get hands on and practical with the Royal Air Force team!
K’Nex air powered rocket cars with the British Army
Design, build and race an air powered car. Engineer a structurally sound and stable rolling car chassis using the K’Nex construction kits.
Pairs or teams will design and build a rolling car chassis of using the K’Nex construction kits. The rolling chassis has to incorporate and support the launch tube that will attach to the air compressor that will propel the car forward.
Our amazing sponsors
If you would like to become a sponsor, please get in touch with the team. Find out more about our sponsorship packages.
STEM School’s Challenge Day – 29th Sept
Compete against other teams. Win prizes!
Take part in science based experiments, test your problem solving skills with our maths based puzzles, design and create something with your engineering skills and demonstrate your coding abilities in our technology activity. Winning teams will be awarded prizes, and the overall winning school will be presented the Peterborough STEM Festival trophy! Open to primary school aged children.
Please note: this event is by invitation only and not open to the public.
Want to get involved?
We would love to hear from you. Whether you can offer your expertise or your time, all help is gratefully received.
Are you a STEM ambassador or passionate about what you do? If you want to share your passion by giving a talk, running a demo or a workshop – we want to hear from you, especially if you are local to Peterborough!
I want to contribute!
Become a Sponsor!
We have 'byte' packets to suit all budgets whether you are a multinational organisation or just a lover and supporter of STEM.
Get in touch!We are looking for help with the preparations in the weeks leading up to the event and also on the day itself. We can’t promise you riches, but we can promise you a cool t-shirt (Team DPiP), food and refreshments in exchange for your time.
I want to help! Sign me up.
Location, location, location.
Allia Future Business Centre, Peterborough United Football Club, London Rd, Peterborough PE2 8AN.
At the back of POSH grounds. Parking available near site.
Whats on
We have a day full of free-to-attend activities (no booking required), including:
- Coding challenges with BGL Group
- Get involved with CHaOS (Cambridge Hands On Science)
- Collect the clues and solve the code for the Escape Rooms Treasure Hunt
- Create the best aircraft rivet with the Royal Air Force
- Learn how to broadcast an Internet radio station with Hereward Community Radio
- Hands-on DNA construction with the Wellcome Trust
- Tour the Innovation Lab and discover 3D printers, 3D scanners, laser cutters and more
- Meet Pepper, Greater Peterborough UTC’s robot assistant