There was an extra buzz around the Uxbridge Campus on Tuesday 28 January when Uxbridge College and West London Institute of Technology welcomed over 90 girls from local schools to take part in a day packed full of tech activities!
The year 7 and 8 students from three schools in Hillingdon Borough - Bishopshalt, Douay Martyrs and Swakeleys – spent the day at the College as we proudly hosted the first ever Amazon Girls’ Tech Day to be held in the UK.
Girls’ Tech Day takes place all over the world and the aim is to inspire girls and young women to engage in activities that showcase the opportunities available to them in the world of Science, Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM) and encourage them to think about the future careers available to them.
The day started with an inspirational welcome by Dr Niamh Shaw – an engineer, scientist, writer and performer who shared highlights and experiences from her career in STEM.
The girls then took part in four hands-on, fun activities and interactive games learning new skills, developing teamwork, encouraging critical thinking and building confidence. The day featured exciting sessions delivered in our high-tech immersive room and in spaces that are part of our West London Institute of Technology which offers higher-level STEM qualifications.
These included:
- Robotics - students worked in pairs to build and programme a robot model to carry out challenges on a data centre activity mat
- Virtual Reality (VR) using VR headsets – students has fun exploring VR and using Augmented Reality
- Coding – students had the opportunity to work through the Tangible Rangers coding game, making coding accessible
- Interactive games - a fun and open session where students took part in as many games as possible such as “whack-a-mole” style reaction games.
As well as taking part in these exciting activities, students were able to hear from amazing female speakers from the world of tech through a discussion panel held in our state-of-the-art immersive room on the Uxbridge Campus. The room was also connected to the immersive room on our Richmond Campus where a group of our female IT students joined the session – a great way to showcase the tech we have available across Harrow, Richmond and Uxbridge Colleges.
The girls had a great time learning more about the innovative opportunities available to them for future careers in STEM, enjoyed getting hands-on with fun activities and even went home with a swag bag!
Yaseen Akhtar, Managing Director - West London Institute of Technology, Business Skills, Growth and Partnerships said: “We were excited to host the very first Amazon Girls’ Tech Day in the UK together with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and we’re proud to promote the opportunities for STEM education in our amazing facilities and learning environment. Showcasing these exciting career pathways to girls and young women at an early age provides inspiration for future generations. With our developing curriculum in STEM, we encourage and support women to access the opportunities available in these fast-moving and exciting sectors.”
Ben Watson, Data Centre Operation Manager at AWS said: “We are delighted to collaborate with Harrow, Richmond and Uxbridge Colleges to host the first Amazon Girls’ Tech Day here in the UK. Our goal is to inspire and empower young women to explore their potential in technology , and events like these are key to showing them the opportunities available to them. Through our community initiatives like our robotics workshops and the award-winning Digital Futures Programme, of which we are a member, we’re committed to fostering a love for technology and creating pathways for the future leaders of the industry.”