The 2023 Wales STEM Awards have launched with organisers looking to shine a spotlight on the organisations and individuals making a difference to the STEM agenda in Wales.
Following the success of last year’s awards, the 2023 ceremony will take place on 13th October at the Mercure Holland House Hotel in Cardiff.
The awards will celebrate those leading the sector in Wales, those businesses creating an impact on the Welsh economy, those addressing the STEM diversity gap and skills shortage, and those inspiring and raising aspirations of the next generation.
With entries open until 7th July, there are thirteen categories to enter, including Innovation in STEM, STEM Educational Programme of the Year, STEM Woman of the Year and STEM Company of the Year. Three new categories have also been added to this year’s awards – STEM Team of the Year, STEM Deal of the Year and STEM Research Project of the Year.
Cardiff Metropolitan University has been confirmed as the headline sponsor of this year’s awards, with sponsorship opportunities still available for those organisations wishing to position themselves at the forefront of STEM in Wales.
On sponsoring this year’s awards, Matthew Taylor, Director of Innovation at Cardiff Metropolitan University, says:
“Cardiff Met is delighted to continue our support for the Wales STEM Awards, which celebrate the greatest STEM successes across Wales. The Awards are directly relevant to our own School of Technologies, launched in 2018, which offers cutting-edge undergraduate and postgraduate degrees and research opportunities in technology-related areas including robotics, artificial intelligence, software engineering and games design. We work closely with employers across the tech industry to carefully design courses that are industry-relevant and career focused, directly contributing to the continued growth of this important sector and the success of the people and businesses within it.”
With research from the UK Commission’s Employer Skills Survey showing that 43% of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) vacancies are hard to fill, Wales needs more STEM professionals.
Jeremy Miles, Minister for Education and Welsh Language, said:
“The Welsh Government is committed to ensuring that careers in STEM are an accessible and attractive opportunity for everyone. Science, technology, engineering and mathematics are not just subjects to study at school and college, they provide solutions to the societal challenges we are facing, including tackling climate change and infectious diseases. I welcome the Wales STEM Awards and its celebration of the importance of STEM and Wales’ STEM stars, who are inspiring and raising aspirations of the next generation.”
The Wales STEM Awards are being jointly organised by Grapevine Event Management and communications agency jamjar. Sponsors include Cardiff Metropolitan University, CSA Catapult, Cardiff Medicentre, Linea Resourcing and Red Knight Consultancy.
The 2022 awards saw winners including Eben Upton, founder of Raspberry Pi take home Outstanding Contribution to STEM, Catsci take home STEM Company of the Year (20+ employees), and Sharan Johnstone from the University of South Wales take home STEM Woman of the Year.
To enter and for details on sponsoring the awards, visit www.STEMAwards.Wales
