They said over 22,300 additional engineers are needed in the next decade, with just 9.8 per cent of graduates coming from engineering disciplines, half the global average.

PAULA Walshe, a Carlow-based academic and mother of three, has published a book about STEM and the arts (STEAM) for preschool children.

The theme of this year's Science Week is 'regeneration' with a public call to celebrate our innate ability to reinvent, rejuvenate and regenerate.