STEM Workshops in Somerset

Somerset has a proud STEM heritage that spans agriculture, engineering and energy. The county's wool and textile industries drove early mechanisation, and the Somerset Coal Canal, opened in 1805, was one of Britain's pioneering canal engineering projects. Bridgwater's brick and tile works powered the county's construction industry for generations. In the twentieth century, the Royal Ordnance Factory at Puriton near Bridgwater became a major centre of munitions manufacturing during the Second World War. The Fleet Air Arm museum at RNAS Yeovilton documents the county's long association with military aviation and aerospace engineering.

Arthur C. Clarke, the science fiction author and futurist who conceived the concept of geostationary communications satellites, was born in Minehead, Somerset. His vision of space technology and telecommunications shaped an entire industry. John Stringfellow, a Chard lace maker, built and flew one of the world's first powered aircraft models in 1848, decades before the Wright Brothers. More recently, the engineers at Leonardo Helicopters in Yeovil have designed and built military and civilian helicopters used by armed forces and operators worldwide, carrying on a tradition of aerospace innovation that stretches back decades.

Somerset's STEM landscape is anchored by aerospace, defence and nuclear energy. Leonardo Helicopters in Yeovil is a major UK aerospace manufacturing site, designing and producing the Wildcat, Merlin and AW149 helicopters for military and civilian customers worldwide. Hinkley Point C near Bridgwater is the UK's first new nuclear power station in a generation and one of the largest construction projects in Britain, creating thousands of engineering and technology jobs. The Gravity smart campus near Bridgwater, built on the former Royal Ordnance Factory site, is being developed as a major centre for advanced manufacturing, clean energy and technology.

Somerset offers distinctive STEM career pathways. Leonardo Helicopters provides apprenticeships and graduate roles in aerospace engineering, software development, avionics, and mechanical design. The Hinkley Point C project has created thousands of roles in nuclear engineering, construction technology, project management, and environmental science, with a major investment in local apprenticeship programmes. The Gravity campus is attracting advanced manufacturing and clean technology companies. Bridgwater & Taunton College and the University Centre Somerset offer programmes in engineering, computing, and construction technology. Agricultural technology is also a growing sector in this predominantly rural county.