Central Tauranga was a hive of activity when more than 3000 visitors took part in STEMFest, the city's inaugural world-class gathering of innovators, educators, and cutting-edge technologists from the Bay of Plenty and beyond.
Durham St's freshened up streetscape in the heart of the CBD was the ideal location for the STEMFest takeover on Saturday.
The University of Waikato's main campus and newly opened science and engineering labs, along with neighbours Basestation, Trustpower, and Aspire2, played host to more than 40 exhibitors and STEM-based shows.
Designed to showcase what STEM industries the region was best known for, the event attracted exhibitors from the marine science, horticulture, biosecurity, engineering, construction, robotics and gaming.
Academic and technical staff from the university's Hamilton campus joined their Tauranga colleagues for a day of active community engagement to deliver hands-on learning opportunities for children of all ages and their families.
Representatives from the Schools of Science, Engineering, Computing and Mathematical Sciences, and Te Huataki Waiora School of Health pulled out the big guns with a plethora of free, family-friendly activities that wowed the capacity crowd.
Some of the most popular included DNA extraction experiments, lightbot programming on tablets, a virtual reality game, wattbikes, the vertical jump challenge and the student-built WESMO car.
Professor Chris Battershill, who spent the day at STEMFest with his team from the Coastal Marine Field Station, called it "an outrageous success".
"Everyone who came down 'University Street' had a huge appetite to participate in fun activities mixing science, technology, engineering and maths.
Kyanna Callagher, 7, masters a mini crane. Photo / George Novak
"From simulating polar ice melt or checking out how pretend whale blubber keeps your hand warm in an ice bath, all the way through to identifying alien marine animals and flying underwater drones surveying the seafloor, our future innovators got the real feel of discovery."
Battershill said they got to see what talent and raw thirst for knowledge was coming their way.
"It gives us all hope that our future will be in good hands if the level of inquiry, demonstrated by the young people who we met on Saturday, is anything to go by!"
Waikato Management School Tauranga's Leading Through Innovation Clinic manager Deborah Begbie said the highlight of the day was "seeing families come together to share experiences, be amazed and inspired, and enjoy with wonderment the best of New Zealand's STEM heroes".
The University's STEMFest social media 'takeover' host Lola Stewart with Senior Lecturer in Marine Science, Shari Gallop in the newly opened Aqua Lab. Photo / Supplied
The first event of its kind in New Zealand, STEMFest founder and project lead Tia Lush said the concept for the event was inspired by Ada Lovelace Day.
Ada Lovelace was a mathematician who worked with Charles Babbage back in 1843, and was considered to be the first female computer programmer, before computers even existed.
Lush was the brainchild behind the first STEMFest event held in the City of Peterborough, United Kingdom three years ago.
Bringing the event to her new home in the Bay was a no-brainer for the graphic designer who was thrilled how volunteers, sponsors and the community embraced the project from the outset.
"STEMFest could not have happened without the support from our generous main sponsors, including the University of Waikato."
"From the very early conceptual planning through to the logistics right up to the final day, the team at the Tauranga campus have been outstanding and their contribution has enabled us to deliver a world-class STEM Festival to whānau in Tauranga Moana and New Zealand," she said.
The last event in the 2019 STEMFest calendar is tonight from 5pm-7pm, at the university's lecture theatre where Suw Charman-Anderson, founder of Ada Lovelace International Day, will speak about "Ada Lovelace and the Invention of Career".
