Durham Engineering Inspires Future Engineers at STEAM Live 2025

The event brought together 280 students from six Trust schools and featured 20 organisations including Durham University, Newcastle University, Accenture, IET, BAM, P&G, Equinor, Freudenberg, Virgin Money, and the NHS, all providing interactive demonstrations to promote STEAM careers.

Alessandro Borghi, Gary Parker, Roy Simorangkir, and Stefan Szyniszewski were the engineering ambassadors who represented Durham University's Engineering Department at their dedicated stall, engaging young minds with practical engineering experiences. Students explored renewable energy principles through wind turbine experiments, investigating how blade count and twist angles affect performance in a real-world application of the design-build-test methodology that defines engineering practice.

The interactive demonstrations continued with ping pong ball aerodynamics activities, allowing pupils to discover fluid dynamics principles through playful experimentation. Another highlight for many students was the thermal camera station, where they observed heat phenomena in everyday objects and witnessed thermal fluid dynamics as hot water mixed with cold water, creating vivid thermal imagery that made invisible science visible.

Some students had the opportunity to capture and take home printed thermal images of themselves, providing a lasting memento of their scientific exploration. The event's success was reflected in student feedback, with one pupil describing it as "the best trip ever" and another commenting "I loved learning about all the different ways you could become an engineer."

The activities successfully demonstrated the iterative nature of engineering design while showcasing the exciting career possibilities available in their local area and beyond, with 164 pupils reporting they learned about new jobs during the event.

For more information about the event, please contact: Dr Stefan Szyniszewski, stefan.t.szyniszewski@durham.ac.uk