7 Timetable

A message from Lord Andrew Mawson OBE

Co-Founder, Science Summer School and Chairman, Well North Enterprises

Welcome to the 400 young people and teachers attending our first Science Summer School Northern Ireland. I hope you all enjoy your visit to the beautiful Braid Civic Centre here in Ballymena, hearing such inspirational speakers and having fun visiting the many exciting workshops on offer. Knowledge is power so be curious and absorb as much as you can. Today may also help spark your ideas about future careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics. In 2012, Professor Brian Cox CBE and I co-founded the Science Summer School in a forgotten area of east London with two very challenging housing estates, poor health provision, a failing school and a dysfunctional community. The only way was up (or close down)! A new secondary school was built, led by a brilliant headteacher and staff, with STEAM subjects at the heart of the curriculum. A health centre and a pharmacy soon followed. Local business got involved mentoring students. Over time positive things started to happen to the school and the area. Exam results improved and more local people started to send their children to the school. In 2020 St Paul’s Way Trust School saw 66% of sixth-form students progress to Elite Russell Group Universities. This was our first experience of creating an Innovation Platform to bring together the community, education, health, business and creative sectors. ‘Joining the dots’ has helped to improve this area and the lives of the people living there and it’s a model we share wherever there is interest.

Critically, a successful community also needs an effective careers pipeline connecting young people to the many local work opportunities available in these sectors. This complements Brian’s vision “to make the UK the best place to do science and engineering”. STEAM is where the new jobs of today and tomorrow exist. That is what today is all about.

The east London science school celebrated its 10th anniversary in July 2021 and Well North Enterprises began to ‘roll out’ the programme nationally with the first Skelmersdale Science School also in 2021. Fast forward and the third North Star Science School, Rotherham and the first Brooklands Innovation Academy, Surrey both take place later this month.

Our 2020 launch in Northern Ireland was delayed by the pandemic but this has enabled us to develop a close working association with Mid and East Antrim Borough Council and connect with many local businesses through The Manufacturing Task Force. As a result an exciting series of STEAM activities and relationships has developed inspired by today’s event. We look forward to continuing this work in collaboration with our partners to build something special and long-lasting for the young people of Ballymena, Mid and East Antrim and Northern Ireland. Science Summer School Northern Ireland could not happen without the vision and support of an outstanding group of companies generously supporting this year’s event. My grateful thanks to Ryobi our Headline Sponsor, and Almac Group, IPC Mouldings, Michelin Development, Northern Regional College, Randox Laboratories and Terumo BCT.

My thanks also to Rhonda Lynn and her fantastic team of Christine Barnhill, Ann Doran, Danielle Gillan and Patricia Strain at Mid and East Antrim Borough Council and to Graham Whitehurst MBE, Chair of Mid and East Antrim’s Manufacturing Task Force.

Check out this QR code for more information on Science Summer School.

Guest Speaker Biographies

Presentation 1:

Andrew Smyth Aerospace Engineer at Rolls Royce and Bake Off Finalist in 2016. TED Talk Title: When baking meets engineering.

An experienced presenter and speaker, Andrew has written, produced and performed live shows around the UK and Ireland, including at the Royal Institution and National Space Centre. On television, he’s the creator, judge and executive producer of ‘Baking Impossible’ on Netflix, a critically acclaimed ‘bakineering’ challenge show. He has also featured as an expert contributor on shows for Discovery Science and the BBC.

As a finalist on the Great British Bake Off in 2016, Andrew grew a firm following for his outrageously engineered creations and upbeat attitude. Since leaving the tent, he’s presented a live cooking segment on ITV’s Lorraine to a regular audience of over 1 million people, developed projects for Warner Brothers and the British Council, and even baked a rotating jet engine cake for Prince William. Dr. Rebecca Lutton CEO, Lintol Ltd. TED Talk Title: Can tech be science? Actually, what is science?

Dr. Rebecca Lutton, is CEO of Lintol and holds a PhD in Advanced Materials and Engineering, Masters in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, and a Masters in Internet of Things (IoT). Rebecca thoroughly enjoys, and believes it to be a pleasant responsibility, to encourage young adults to get involved in and to embrace STEAM subjects.

Rebecca has found a career in engineering to be fun and it has enabled her to be employed in a variety of industries from Pharmacy to Civil Engineering to Aerospace to Tech. To quote “It has been a wild adventure and one I hope never to end; I also hope I can inspire you to join me in this career choice...career fun!

Presentation 2:

Dr. Laura McLaughlin Lecturer in diagnostic Radiography, School of Health Sciences, Ulster University. TED Talk Title: Artificial Intelligence - the more AI’s the better?

Dr. Laura McLaughlin’s research and publications are rooted in image interpretation, eye tracking technology and artificial intelligence, each aimed at growing the knowledge base of interpretation influences and improving the patient diagnosis, care and management. Her research on the use of a training tool to improve chest image interpretation was listed as a finalist of the Belfast HSC Trust Science driving innovation in healthcare delivery award in the Advancing Healthcare Awards Northern Ireland. Dr. Erin Higgins Astrophysicist at the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium. TED Talk Title: Black holes making ripples in space-time.

Erin is an astrophysicist working at the Armagh Observatory & Planetarium, researching the lives and deaths of the most massive stars in the Universe.

She now works as a Postdoctoral researcher at the Armagh Observatory focusing on black holes and the most massive stars. Erin collaborates with astronomers across the world within the BRIDGCE network, which aims to understand how elements necessary for our daily lives are formed in the cores of stars.

Presentation 3:

Professor Ultan Power Professor of Molecular Virology, Queen’s University Belfast. TED Talk title: Queen’s conquering Covid. Covid-19 - the virology, pathology, prevention & treatment.

Ultan Power is Professor of Molecular Virology in Queen’s University Belfast. He graduated from University College Cork with a PhD in Microbiology. Following postdoctoral training in in St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, he moved to the pharma sector in France where he was Head of Virology in the Centre of Immunology Pierre Fabre, the biotech research arm of Institut de Recherche Pierre Fabre. Professor Power was an expert witness to the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee on the “Science of COVID-19” (2022) and has had numerous media appearances throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Johanna McMullan Senior Lecturer, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Queen’s University Belfast TED Talk Title: Joining the workforce during a pandemic, a birdseye view from a frontline worker.

Johanna has been a qualified nurse since graduating from Glasgow University in 1997 and has worked in The Emergency Department to the level of Senior Sister. She has been at Queens University Belfast since 2004 gaining a Post Graduate Certificate in Education, Masters in Science and Masters in Education. Currently a Senior Lecturer and Year One Lead, Johanna teaches both Undergrad and Post Grad modules in Life Sciences. Her research is heavily involved in Student Experience, Assessment and Integration of Users and Carers into the Curriculum for which she recently won the UK final of the Student Nursing Times for Partnership of the Year award for her work with WAVE - a cross community charity in Northern Ireland whose members teach into the program as Citizen Trainers.