STEM Workshops in Devon & Cornwall

Devon and Cornwall possess a rich STEM heritage stretching back centuries. Cornwall's tin and copper mining industry drove pioneering advances in steam engine technology. Richard Trevithick, born in Cornwall in 1771, built the world's first high-pressure steam engine and the first full-scale working railway locomotive. In 1962, Goonhilly Earth Station on the Lizard Peninsula made history as part of the first live transatlantic television broadcasts via the Telstar satellite. The Met Office relocated its headquarters to Exeter in 2003, bringing one of the world's most powerful supercomputers to the region.

Richard Trevithick, born in Illogan, Cornwall in 1771, was a pioneering engineer whose steam engines powered the industrial revolution. Humphry Davy, born in Penzance in 1778, discovered several chemical elements including sodium and potassium, and invented the Davy safety lamp that saved countless miners' lives. Thomas Newcomen of Dartmouth built the first practical atmospheric steam engine in 1712, a precursor to the machines that would transform industry. Elizabeth Carne, born near Hayle in Cornwall in 1817, became the first woman elected as a member of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall in 1865, publishing papers on cliff boulders, granite formation, and metamorphic processes that challenged prevailing geological theories.

Today, Devon and Cornwall are experiencing a resurgence in high-technology industries. As at July 2026, Spaceport Cornwall at Newquay Airport is a licensed horizontal spaceport and the centre of a growing space cluster, but no current launch operator is listed on the CAA's public register. The Met Office in Exeter is a major regional STEM employer, operating advanced climate modelling and weather prediction systems. Goonhilly Earth Station has been repurposed as a commercial satellite communications hub supporting European Space Agency and NASA deep-space missions. The FaBTest wave energy test site off Falmouth continues to support marine renewable energy research.

Devon and Cornwall offer an increasingly diverse range of STEM career pathways. The Met Office recruits meteorologists, data scientists, software engineers, and climate researchers, with apprenticeship and graduate routes. The space cluster around Spaceport Cornwall and Goonhilly supports roles in satellite engineering, mission operations, and space data analysis. The University of Exeter is recognised for environmental science, engineering, and computer science, while Plymouth is known for marine science. The marine renewable energy sector provides further opportunities.