Books were put aside at the Crewe Library on Friday 1 June as young minds were inspired by science through hands on activities, as part of the Amazed By Science festival.
The Sparks event, run by SP Energy Networks, the owner and maintainer of powerlines in Cheshire, was held as part of the Amazed By Science festival which aims to promote and celebrate science, technology and engineering throughout Cheshire.
A range of creative science experiments and activities were led by SP Energy Networks graduate engineer, Kieran Reynolds to capture children’s imaginations and teach them a few simple skills about electricity.
Local children and their parents were shown how to make electrical circuits with a hot wire kit, creating a radio or lie detector, and how electrical currents work by creating a coin or lemon battery. Children could also experience a tour of the SP Energy Networks’ electrical network through a virtual reality headset.
Kieran Reynolds, graduate engineer at SP Energy Networks, said: “It’s great to participate in this type of event, helping to inspire the next generation of engineers in Cheshire. A basic knowledge of maths and science along with a passion for engineering and technology are essential skills for any aspiring power engineer, and this type of event could be just the thing to spark that interest in any of these children.”
Stephen Stewart, Director at SP Energy Networks, said: “Here at SP Energy Networks, we’re committed to supporting education in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects. If we are to have a skilled workforce for the energy sector in twenty years, it’s crucial we encourage young minds now to pursue these subjects.
“Events like Sparks and the Amazed By Science festival are the perfect places to inspire children with STEM subjects and I’m proud to see our engineers in Cheshire working to ignite that interest in our young people.”
SP Energy Networks owns and manages overhead and underground powerlines in Southern and Central Scotland as well as Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales and North Shropshire. For more information about SP Energy Networks and its services, visit: spenergynetworks.co.uk
For further information, please contact Alex Crate or Megan Cunningham by calling 0131 561 8628 or emailing spnetworks@stripecommunications.com.
Notes to Editors
SP Energy Networks:
- SP Energy Networks (SPEN) is the licensed Electricity Distributor (DNO) for Central & Southern Scotland and for Merseyside, Cheshire, North Wales and North Shropshire. We have 30,000 substations (one substation for every 100 customers), 40,000km overhead lines (once around the globe), and 70,000km underground cables.
- SPEN also operates the Transmission Network in Central and Southern Scotland. They take electricity generated from power stations, windfarms and various other utilities and transport it through their vast transmission network, consisting of over 4000 kilometres of overhead and 320 kilometres of underground lines. They have 129 transmission substations in their network that help us to manage extra high voltage electricity supplies.
- From 2015 to 2023 SP Energy Networks plans to invest approximately £5 billion into the electricity network. To keep power supplies on the company currently manages over 110,000km of power cables and 30,000 substations across their network area.