Good morning everyone. I am delighted to have been invited to speak to you this morning. I am also delighted to be visiting the Science Museum again - there can be few better places for us to learn about and discuss how science, engineering and technology have developed, what they are doing for us now and what opportunities they might offer us in the future.
These opportunities will be many and include the development of things such as new hydrogen powered cars, robots, mobile phones that will only work if their owner uses them. Smart medicines which are designed to treat illnesses we have in the way that best suits our genes. New ways of dealing with environmental pollution - for example, how many of you know that there are microbes that eat specific polluting substances like plastics and turn them into harmless materials?
But these things will not just happen. They will require people to develop them. In fact, people like you.
The UK's continued success in science depends on enough people like you believing that science has something exciting to offer. And because we believe that this is so important, the Government has made this school year Science Year.
Science Year is for everyone, but is particularly for young people like you and the adults around you - especially your teachers. It is about raising awareness of the huge range of subjects and careers that involve science and technology.
Events coming up for the year include a Science Discovery day at the Royal Albert Hall on the 7th of March and the Wellcome Trust's National Festival of Drama - 'Science Centre Stage', also in March. If you have not already seen it, take a look at the Science Year web site to see how you can get involved. The address is www.scienceyear.com. Outside, the Museum has set up some computers showing you the web site.
Science Year will have a lasting impact, extending well beyond September this year. Two initiatives which are particularly key to this legacy are the Kit Pot and the Science and Engineering Ambassadors initiative.
Through the Kit Pot we have already provided every maintained secondary and primary school with an electronic microscope and we will also be giving away hi-tech laboratory equipment worth more than £1 million to UK primary and secondary schools. This will let you get hands-on experience of doing experiments with high quality equipment just like that used by universities and industry.
Through the Science and Engineering Ambassadors initiative, or SEAs for short, we hope to capture your imagination and encourage you to take up careers in science and engineering. The initiative will encourage people who use science, technology, engineering and maths skills in their careers to show you how the subjects you study at school can be used in interesting jobs in the everyday world. For example, if you want to design cutting edge clothes or make music, you have to understand the properties of the materials, whether cloth or instruments.
The objectives of SEAs are very similar to those of the National RESPECT Campaign and so I am very glad that we have been able to support the Campaign.
The role models you meet today will be able to speak first hand of the excitement, importance and satisfaction of what they do. I also hope that they will help you to realise that they are basically every day men and women with very interesting jobs. The sorts of jobs that you could do in the future.
We want to make the most of the potential and full range of talents of all of the young people in this country. Among other things, this means encouraging more girls and those of you from ethnic minorities into science. The National RESPECT Campaign will be an important way to do this.
One of the things we are doing to encourage girls to think about science more is to publish Spark magazine. This is fun and informative and aims to show girls (although it is also proving popular with boys) that science and engineering jobs are fun and stimulating. It aims to break the picture some of you may have of these occupations and provide useful information for you, your teachers, careers advisors and parents. Spark 3 has just been published and has an IT theme - here it is. Spark 2 is still available and has this not easily forgotten picture of Robbie Williams on the cover. Copies of both will be available at the end of today's event.
And it is important to remember that you do not need to win Nobel prizes to make a difference in science, engineering and technology. If you want to design computer games, be a sport physiotherapist, a forensic scientist who analyses materials related to crime or be a sound recording engineer you need a background in science and engineering.
And science related qualifications can take you to some very interesting places outside science. Trevor Phillips, the broadcaster and Deputy Chairman of the Greater London Authority, is a Chemistry graduate. And Simon Singh who made a very successful TV series for Channel 4 called Codebreakers is another.
Before I finish, let me ask you to do a small experiment and imagine that science did not exist. Imagine that none of the things in this great Museum had been developed or invented. What sort of world would that be?
I think that if you do this you will realise how important science and technology are to our every day lives and how much we take them for granted. There would be no cars, no trains, no television, no telephones - mobiles or otherwise, no electronic music, few medicines, no aircraft, no synthetic clothes, no video games, no space travel - the list is endless.
All of these things have helped to change the world around us. And all were developed by people working in careers that use science, engineering and technology. How many other careers can offer you the opportunity to change the world in such a positive way? And this opportunity is available to all of you in this room.
Let me finish by saying how much I hope you find today's event fun, interesting and inspiring. And I look forward to speaking directly to some of you later this morning
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