Activate Your Curiosity Returns to Ballymena, Inspiring the Next Generation of STEAM Talent

Thursday 22 January 2026

Year 10 students from across Northern Ireland, including pupils from Castle Tower School and Roddensvale School, took part in the fourth AYC event at The Braid, Ballymena, on Tuesday 20 January, led by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council to help inspire through a combination of STEAM seminars, discussions and practical workshops.

Funded by the Department for Communities, Labour Market Partnerships develop targeted employment action plans for each council area, enabling local and regional collaboration to help people prepare for and access meaningful work.

The initiative is closely aligned with the work of the Mid and East Antrim Making The Future (MTF), a powerful industry-led collaboration bringing together employers, education and public sector partners to build future skills pipelines in advanced manufacturing, engineering, energy and technology. Through this partnership, students gain direct exposure to real-world careers and the opportunities available within the region’s growing innovation economy.

Mayor of Mid and East Antrim, Councillor Jackson Minford, said “This year’s Activate Your Curiosity event was all about sparking curiosity, inspiring future talent and highlighting the vital role that Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths play in shaping our world.

“By bringing together young people, educators and industry, we are proud to showcase the limitless possibilities of STEAM careers and to encourage students to explore, ask questions and see how their learning connects to real-world opportunities.”

The event concluded with a keynote address from Rowan Campbell Pilling, a rising star in British Motorsport, who brought the day to a close encouraging students to see the wide range of opportunities available to them through STEAM subjects and future careers.

The 2026 event is sponsored by Saint-Gobain Exterior Solutions who returns for a third year as Headline Sponsor, alongside Michelin Development, Caterpillar Larne, Moore Concrete, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Terumo Blood and Cell Technology, Phoenix Energy and EPUKI Ballylumford.

The flagship event is also supported in kind by Queen’s University Belfast, MEGA, GEMX, Modern Democracy, Seagate, the City Deal, PlotBox and the NI Space Office.

Activate Your Curiosity extends far beyond a single day. Running from September through to June, the year-round programme connects schools with industry through behind-the-scenes employer visits, in-school talks and workshops, STEAM engagement activities and co-designed careers fairs, helping young people to better understand future skills needs and local career pathways.

Activate Your Curiosity is Northern Ireland’s leading event within the UK-wide Science Summer School programme, established in 2012 by Lord Andrew Mawson OBE and Professor Brian Cox CBE FRS to help “make the UK the best place in the world to do science and engineering”.

Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, working in partnership with the MTF, local employers, education providers and the Labour Market Partnership, continues to lead the delivery of the programme in Northern Ireland.

For further information on the initiative, visit our Activate Your Curiosity section.