Innovation Discovery Day at Milton Park: Inspiring students in STEM, innovation and AI
On 1 October, Milton Park welcomed 54 students for our Innovation Discovery Day, a hands-on introduction to careers in STEM, innovation and AI. We had 28 volunteers from 15 Milton Park businesses who gave their time, energy, and shared their career stories Thank you so much to our fantastic volunteers and the schools who attended, it was such an inspiring day.
A warm welcome to start the day
The day opened with a welcome from Anna Fletcher, Senior Estates Marketing Manager at Federated Hermes on behalf of Milton Park.
Teachers in attendance, praised how it helped students feel at ease to ask questions, be curious and ready to get involved for the day.
Hands-on activities across Milton Park
Students took part in a packed programme of activities, ran by Ahead Partnership. They are an organisation which helps connect employers to student and develop career workshops. On the day students took part in:
- Speed networking: met volunteers from across the Park and asked about their roles and career journeys
- Design sprint: designed a workspace for the company of their volunteer
- LTI Metal Tech: took on an egg challenge and saw inside the workshop
- Planet IT: learnt about cyber security
- Vertex: tackled pipette challenges
- Nebula: toured Nebula development to learn about sustainability.
What students learned about STEM careers
The students’ feedback shows the difference our volunteers made. They discovered that:
- There are many career paths after school
- Not all STEM is always maths
- Skills are highly transferable.
Many said they would now explore a wider range of jobs, including the legal side of STEM businesses.
Careers that inspired students
Students were drawn to a wide mix of roles at Milton Park, including biochemistry and pharmaceuticals, HR, customer service, architecture, publishing and software design.
Thank you to our Milton Park volunteers
Anna Fletcher, Senior Estates Marketing Manager commented:
“Innovation depends on people with many different skills, from scientists and engineers to project managers, designers and sustainability experts. These opportunities are right on our students’ doorstep, and I’d like to thank everyone that gave up their time, sharing their experiences to help inspire the next generation of talent. There was a great buzz in the room.”
We’re grateful to every business that supported the day: Ahead Partnership, Baker Hughes, Ensilica, Federated Hermes, Hachette, LTI Metal Tech, Molecule to Medicine, Next Step Fusion, Oberlanders, Planet IT, ThirtyFiveBio, Tokamak Energy, TreQ, Vertex and Wave Optics.
Supporting young people in science and technology
Milton Park is home to over 280 organisations across science, technology and creative industries, making it a great place to show young people what is possible. Thank you again to everyone involved. We look forward to building on this success in 2027.
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