London Gatwick inspires next generation at TeenTech Festival

• London Gatwick colleagues from Engineering and IT hosted activities and mentoring sessions to help students explore careers in STEM
• A total of 300 year 10 students from 30 schools attended the festival following a virtual event on security with more than 1,000 young people joining

London Gatwick joined leading employers, including Amazon Web Services and Arup, at the AMEX Stadium for the TeenTech Sussex Festival (27 November), an interactive, hands-on event to inspire young people to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).

Now in its third year as lead regional sponsor, London Gatwick played a key role with engineers and IT specialists form the airport acting as TeenTech Ambassadors, guiding students through the day and sharing advice for a successful career in STEM.

The London Gatwick team held interactive sessions to engage students and answer questions on careers in STEM and specifically working at the airport. They ran a LEGO robotic coding challenge and a solar electric vehicle workshop, as well as giving feedback on student projects, helping teams refine their ideas for the TeenTech Awards next summer.

The event followed a virtual innovation session, attended by more than 1,000 students, where London Gatwick showcased the work behind its next generation security project, implementing cutting-edge technologies to strengthen safety and enhance convenience for passengers.

STEM is vital at London Gatwick with hundreds of career options available at the airport and the many partners who work together to keep the airport running.

Alison Addy, Head of External Engagement and Policy, London Gatwick said: “TeenTech is a fantastic way to spark curiosity and show young people the exciting opportunities available in STEM. We’re proud to play our part in inspiring the next generation and helping local students see how their skills can and will shape the future of industries like aviation and beyond.”

The festival supports London Gatwick’s sustainability strategy, Decade of Change, under its Local Communities objective to inspire and engage the next generation. This year, the airport celebrated welcoming its 5,000th visitor to its dedicated STEM Centre and, to date, has delivered more than 10,000 STEM-specific engagements and 150,000  session views, contributing to more than 600,000 student interactions since 2021.

London Gatwick is committed to reaching one 1m student engagements by 2030, helping to equip young people with the skills and confidence to pursue careers in aviation and beyond.