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Students at World Space Week discover opportunities for STEAM graduates in NI are increasing 

·        Secondary school students joined Randox in Armagh Planetarium as part of World Space Week 2016 to discover more about STEAM careers in Northern Ireland

·        The annual IET survey warns the UK-wide STEAM skills gap remains, with companies reporting too few graduates are entering the industry with skills that match their requirements

·        Randox is committed to supporting students through industry placements and is greatly expanding opportunities for STEAM graduates                                           

“Opportunities for STEAM graduates in Northern Ireland are increasing” was the message from Randox at this year’s World Space Week. Students taking part in the UN event came together today in Armagh Planetarium to learn about the career pathways available to them in this industry.

Engineers, scientists and graphic designers in the world-leading diagnostics company have this year alone participated in creating a biochip that identifies risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease to designing the logo for this year’s Grand National as part of the company’s sponsorship of one of the world’s most popular steeplechases. 

Randox has embarked on a significant recruitment drive following the announcement of a £161m investment in the Randox Science Park, at the site of the former Massereene barracks in Antrim and a €25m investment in Randox Teoranta, in Dungloe, County Donegal.

One of the people invited to address the students at the STEAM careers talk was 27 year old Sean Rafferty, a Software DevOps Team Leader. He joined Randox full-time two years ago after graduating with a first class honours in Computing Science from the University of Ulster.  

“With Northern Ireland being called the ‘next Silicon Valley’, there has never been a better time to consider a career within the STEAM industry. Employer demand is growing, supported by top-level understanding that future economic success depends on increasing the number of highly-skilled STEAM workers. There is a rich variety of positions available and on a personal level, I love what I do in software design, particularly within problem solving.

“One of the key messages I can give to students is to avail of all opportunities to fully equip themselves for the work force, and participate in industry placements. A common concern reported in business surveys is that people lack that essential knowledge. Randox has always supported new talent through our competitive student and graduate programs which have been running for over 25 years. This year we had our highest intake and many of those people will secure full-time jobs with us once they finish.”

More than 1000 new jobs in software and mechanical engineering, life sciences and other fields will be created at Randox over the next 4 years. To find out what opportunities are available both in our student and graduate programmes and full-time positions please visit http://careers.randox.com/