Students of all ages will enjoy a highly structured and carefully balanced programme of events designed to give them a practical introduction to the aerospace industry but also to inspire and ignite their imaginations. The students will have the chance to attend a series of lectures highlighting various aspects of the aerospace industry. Three principal speakers will be addressing the students: Raytheon will be talking about space; BAE Systems will be talking about a century of innovation in British aviation; while the RAF will be featuring a young Typhoon display pilot.

The day will feature a science and technology expo, which is taking place in a dedicated marquee. The fair is sold out, and will feature 14 exhibitors ranging from global aerospace companies such as Thales, Rolls-Royce, EADS and Boeing, through learned organizations such as the Royal Aeronautical Society to small educational charities such as the Yorkshire Air Museum and Smallpeice Trust. Designed to generate a real excitement in engineering, the exhibitors’ stands will offer students the chance to design a parachute, build a robot, fly a plane by simulation and build a bridge.

Complementing the science and technology expo is the careers fair, which is held in the Airshow Business Centre. Seventeen companies are exhibiting at the careers fair which is intended to play a significant role in furthering the emerging close partnership between industry and academia with the hope of working towards establishing a world-class workforce for the future.

During the morning of International Youth Day the inaugural International Youth Rocketry Challenge is going to be taking place at Rushmoor Arena. Featuring the winning UKAYRoC team from Horsforth Secondary School in Yorkshire and their American counterparts from Enloe High School in Raleigh, North Carolina, the Team America Rocketry Challenge winners, the challenge will entail a rocket fly-off with the victors receiving a prize from Under Secretary for Transport Jim Fitzpatrick MP at a ceremony which will mark the end of the formal events of International Youth Day.