CGI Young Dreamers Convention for local students inspires STEM careers

CGI in the UK hosted the CGI Young Dreamers Convention on 30 June 2022 at Lord’s Cricket Ground. This STEM event was designed for schools in Redbridge; bringing together CGI clients and members to work in partnership with London Enterprise Adviser Network (LEAN) East, Oaks Park High School, Chadwell Heath Academy and Caterham High School. Designed to inspire, the event’s goal was to encourage students to seriously consider a career and future in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) and/or Government agencies.

Before the CGI Young Dreamers Convention, CGI  ran innovation days with year eight and nine students, splitting them into four groups. Each group was provided with one of four briefs tied into a different STEM subject. These were:

• Science– To design enhancements to a customer location to help reduce their carbon footprint and become more nature positive (Government)
• Technology– To analyse technology that can be used to enhance policing and understand how its implementation affects different stakeholders (Public Safety)
• Engineering– To design modifications to make a Court Room more accessible and inclusive, staying within a set budget (Justice)
• Maths– To organise a fundraising event for The MCC Foundation Charity (Marlybone Cricket Club – the convention’s host)

During “innovation days”, where teams were first introduced to the briefs, the students developed proposals and presented their initial thoughts. The most innovative projects were selected to go through to the final hosted by Marylebone Cricket Club at Lord’s Cricket Ground. Students presented their ideas in a 10-minute “Dragons Den” style pitch to a judging panel made up of CGI clients and leaders and also showcased their thinking in a science fair format.

Michael Herron, Senior Vice President  forCGI in the UK said:

“Inspiring the next generation of STEM professionals has, and will always be, important to us at CGI. This event was a fun and interactive way to encourage young, local talent to engage on STEM subjects and demonstrate how the challenges our society face today can be tackled. It was great to hear innovative propositions ranging from creative and thoughtful sustainability solutions through to  some exciting nature positive ideas It was amazing to see a room full of young talented people share their passion and ideas, and I’m convinced this has encouraged them to see a future STEM career. I was blown away by the pupils in terms of their passion and the creativity they displayed. Indeed I was humbled to know that our future was in the hands of people that care deeply about the things that really matter.”

Ricky Reynolds, Head of Community and Inclusion at MCC, added:

“All of the teams presented great ideas, which made it really difficult to pick only a few winners. One of our missions is to use cricket as a platform for learning, not just on the cricket field. It has been great to see how engaged the children were throughout the programme and hopefully they continue to have an affiliation with STEM and cricket in the future..”

Alongside the event, CGI ran various STEM activities for students with the day culminating in a presentation ceremony and prize giving.