What happens when you mix cutting-edge engineering with the limitless imagination of young minds? You get an unforgettable week at Cambridge Science Centre!
For the past five days, our classroom has been transformed into a buzzing hub of discovery as volunteers from Cambridge Consultants (CC) joined us for our Summer in the Park activities.
Sporting their branded t-shirts and armed with some of the most exciting tech from the frontline of innovation, the CC team helped local children unlock their inner scientists, programmers, and engineers.
From exploring AI and robotics to filling out their ‘CC Innovator Passports’, visitors of all ages spent the week diving headfirst into real-world science.
Here is a look at the magic that happens when industry experts step out of the lab and into the classroom to inspire the next generation.
The spark of inspiration
For many of the CC volunteers, the week was a chance to pay forward the exact moments that sparked their own STEM journeys.
Vlad Penzyev (Electronics Engineer) recalls being captivated at just four years old by a liquid nitrogen demo where roses and rubber balls shattered like glass.
For Phoebe Pinney (Software Engineer), the spark came a bit later: “When I was around 13, I reluctantly entered a school coding competition. I’d never coded before and had always seen it as something that was boring and difficult and not something someone like me would do. But I ended up thoroughly enjoying the process and even won the competion! That changed my whole perception of computer science: I realised that it could be intellectually challenging and rewarding, but also a creative outlet.”
Bringing that same sense of creativity to the Centre was a major draw for the volunteers. Khushal Bharadwa (Software Engineer) wanted to support initiatives that make science accessible, while Rachael Marr (Business Developer) loves our interactive approach: “As they are so local to us here at Cambridge Consultants, it feels like we are helping to make an impact with those within our community.”
Hands-on highlights: from submarines to cellphones
The classroom activities were designed to push the boundaries of fun, featuring everything from LEGO Mindstorms to hydraulic robot arms. Project Manager Iain Smith, who frequently visits the centre with his daughter, jumped at the chance to bring the excitement of CC’s daily work straight to the kids.
He shares: “My standout moment was seeing children completely ‘camped out’ at the LEGO robots coding station.”
Over at the robotics desk, Katie Spimpolo (Software Engineer) adapted a complex robot arm demo for an eager 3-year-old visitor: “I thought I’d have to turn him away because it was too difficult, but he was a good listener,” she said. “We walked through picking up a foam cube with the robot arm and he was so pleased! We turned it into a counting game for each cube he picked up. I loved seeing how focused, determined and patient the kids were.”
Perhaps the ultimate testament to the inclusive power of science came at Joanna Jones’ (Software Engineer) station, where three generations of one family joined in the fun together: “The granddad was telling me about how he used to use Morse code on submarines while working on the robot hand with his grandson,” Joanna smiled. “The mum was saying that if science had been this fun at school, she might have become a scientist herself!”
Spotting the future pioneers
For the volunteers, watching lightbulb moments happen in real time was the ultimate reward. Chris Roberts (Technology Director) recalled a brilliant encounter at his station: “After learning about the amino acids and glowing green proteins, one child asked me how the demo computer knew which block had which letter on it. That’s a budding engineer right there – wanting to know how things work in the real world.”
Vlad witnessed a similar spark of inspiration: “Two children wanted to jump straight into programming the robots. One of them built and programmed a working robot entirely by himself and was proudly showing it off to his family.”
Inspiring icons and big ideas (to take home with you!)
Missed out on joining us for all the interactive fun this week? Don’t worry – the fun doesn’t stop. We are here across the summer holidays and will have other industry partners joining us in the coming weeks.
To help you deal with the FOMO for the moment though, we asked the Cambridge Consultants team to share some of their personal favorite STEM heroes and mind-boggling concepts, so you can ignite your own spark of discovery right from wherever you are.
If you are looking for new roles models to explore with your children, the team recommends diving into some truly resilient figures from science history:
The Coding Pioneer: Software Engineer Phoebe Pinney draws daily inspiration from Ada Lovelace, widely regarded as the world’s very first computer programmer. She shares: “Her story reminds me that women have been making significant contributions to computing since its absolute beginnings, despite often being overlooked in history. Science should be a space where everyone, regardless of background, belongs.”
The Brave Discoverer: Electronics Engineer Vlad Penzyev points to Barbara McClintock, who discovered “jumping genes” in the 1940s – well before the structure of DNA was even fully understood. Despite facing years of skepticism from the scientific community, she pushed forward with absolute integrity, eventually becoming the only woman to win an unshared Nobel Prize in her field.
We’ve also gathered some fantastically fun facts from this week’s CC volunteers (family quiz? Or just use to blow the collective family mind!):
The cathedrals in our cells: Project Manager Iain Smith shares that if you want to picture the mind-blowing scale of an atom, the distance between a nucleus and its orbiting electrons is equivalent to the size of a tiny fly inside a massive cathedral!
Our ancient roots: Software Engineer Katie Spimpolo points out that all land-dwelling mammals, amphibians, birds, and even dinosaurs originally evolved from the humble lungfish journeying out of the sea millions of years ago.
The midnight secret: Technology Director Chris Roberts leaves us with a beautiful philosophical riddle to ponder next time you step outside after dark: You can actually tell our universe isn’t infinite simply because the night sky is black!
Make it contagious: why support Cambridge Science Centre?
As our Summer in the Park with Cambridge Consultants draws to a close, the positive energy left behind is undeniable. For any organisations thinking about getting involved, the CC team has one clear message: Just go for it.
“It’s community building,” says Iain. “It can help energise your staff and help the community to spread and share passion for why they got involved in STEM in the first place. Help make it contagious!”
Khushal agrees, adding: “Seeing the impact the Cambridge Science Centre has on children makes the collaboration and effort well worth it.”
To all the young explorers across the region, Phoebe leaves us with the ultimate takeaway from an incredible week: “The only requirement for becoming a scientist or engineer should be a genuine interest in and passion for the field. If you are curious, enthusiastic and passionate about science and engineering, you have a a place in that world. Keep asking questions and seeking out opportunities!”
You can learn more about working in partnership with Cambridge Science Centre, by connecting with our Corporate Partnerships Manager, David Bord on davidbord@cambridgesciencecentre.org
