ATOM, Abingdon's Science & Technology Festival runs until March 18

Published by

Nicky Godding

The ATOM! Science Festival Abingdon's Science & Technology Festival, celebrates the concentration of scientific companies and organisations around Abingdon-on-Thames, as well as encouraging young people to consider scientific subject choices and careers. In 2018 there is a full week of fantastic events from March 10 to March 18.

This year, say organisers, is the biggest ATOM festival yet and it's now a highly- regarded event for the region.

ATOM is managed by a team of volunteers drawn from the science, education and business community in and around Abingdon and has over 20 individual events and supported by science and technology companies and education and business support organisations, including The Bessemer Society.

**Pick of the Week

Saturday 17th March 2018

11:00am in the Charles Maude Room, Abingdon School

The Bessemer Society

Spinning out Science for Business Success: A Round-Table Discussion on the Risks and Rewards of Commercialising Science

Taking cutting-edge scientific research and commercialising it can lead to massive value creation and the emergence of game-changing companies - and even new industries. But there are significant challenges - financial, scientific, human - in doing this in Oxford and the Science Vale. In this round-table discussion, chaired by The Bessemer Society, three science and technology spin-off companies share the ups and downs of science commercialisation: what are the risks, where are the rewards, and how might science allow British companies to play for the biggest stakes on the world technology stage?

The Bessemer Society is a forum and mutual society formed of ‘serial’ CEOs, founders and entrepreneurs who are committed to creating successful new companies based on technological innovation in the fields of science and technology.

Named after the nineteenth century steel inventor and entrepreneur Sir Henry Bessemer it aims to encourage his blend of technical, creative and entrepreneurial skills that are the catalyst for founding any progressive and lasting enterprise

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.