National Innovation Centres celebrate International Women’s Day in Newcastle 

The UK National Innovation Centre for Data (NICD) and National Innovation Centre for Ageing (NICA) are inviting people to celebrate International Women’s Day in Newcastle city centre, at a series of interactive events and masterclasses.  

The free events will be held at The Catalyst on Wednesday 8 March and will centre around this year’s International Women’s Day theme, ‘embracing equity’.  

Starting with an interactive networking and coffee morning from 10am – 12pm, hosted by NICA, VOICE® and Oxford Innovation Space, guests will have the opportunity to explore informative stations and take part in a traveling exhibition called ‘Every Line Tells a Story’, designed to celebrate ageing.  

This station will give people the chance to share their stories and join NICA in re-imagining the changing texture of ageing skin by creating a tactile wall of plaster skin textures, capturing all ages.  

The coffee morning will also give people the opportunity to learn more about what NICA does, including its work around challenging the myths of menopause and addressing the barriers of staying physically active as we age.  

In the afternoon, NICD has organised three 90-minute data science masterclasses with experts in the field, who will provide attendees with hands-on, practical skills and knowledge. 

Data scientists, Louise Braithwaite MSc, Dr Hollie Johnson and Dr Antonia Kontaratou, will each lead a masterclass, covering everything from data visualisation and natural language processing, to the basics of what data science means in practice and how businesses of all sizes can make use of it.  

Dr Hollie Johnson, senior data scientist at the National Innovation Centre for Data, said: “At NICD, we recognise the immense value of collaborating with data scientists from diverse backgrounds. This International Women’s Day, we are so excited to welcome participants to our masterclasses and celebrate some of the exceptional work being done by women across our team. We hope that by sharing our work, we can inspire more women to pursue careers in data and bring their unique perspectives to the field.” 

Both innovation centres are based within The Catalyst – which is managed by Oxford Innovation Space – and are hosted and funded by Newcastle University in partnership with the UK Government.    

The Catalyst is located within Newcastle Helix – a landmark innovation hub built for international tech and science businesses – and is also home to a raft of ambitious companies and research specialists driving innovation in data and healthy ageing.  

Amelia Findlay, centre manager at The Catalyst, said: “It’s important that we raise awareness of the fantastic work women in STEM fields are doing, and continue to encourage more women to forge a career path in science and technology.  

“We’re looking forward to welcoming both new and familiar faces to The Catalyst for International Women’s Day, for what is set to be a brilliant day of insightful activities that touch on some of the challenges women face, while also celebrating the collaborative community we have created here at The Catalyst and across the wider Newcastle Helix.” 

To register for the coffee morning, visit: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/international-womens-day-tickets-549010684737 

To register for one of the three masterclasses, visit: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/international-womens-day-data-science-masterclasses-tickets-529368283787