Discovery, Cork’s Science Festival, runs in Corks City Hall from November 13 to 16 as part of Science Week this year, with workshops to schools happening from the 8 to the 19 of the month. Discovery educates through enjoyment. Experimenting with slime, creating an electronic circuit or zapping the microbes in your gut – that’s chemistry, physics and biology you’re learning, as well as IT! Regular exhibitors include UCC, CIT, the Tyndall National Institute, Lifetime Lab and FÁS, along with Cork City Council, Cork Electronics Industry Association, the Garda Siochána and the Defence Forces, plus local technology-based businesses. School groups will visit Discovery for the two days after the opening weekend, and have the opportunity to have a workshop visit their school – visits prebooked by teachers. Check out the website for more information. In the meantime if you want to get a sense of what Discovery is all about, check out this video of a previous festival.
The School of Physics, Trinity College Dublin is hosting a free Public Lecture on Tuesday. Prof. Robert Kirshner, Clowes’ Professor of Science, Harvard-Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics, will give a lecture entitled ‘Dark Energy and the Accelerating Universe: Einstein’s Blunder Undone!’ The lecture will take place in the Paccar Lecture Theatre, Science Gallery, at 7:30pm on Tuesday, October 19th. This is a free event, and there will be a reception afterwards and all guests are welcome. For more information please contact the School of Physics TCD on 01 608 1675.
The Atlantic Corridor has announced its lineup for its 2011 conference, with Ericsson taking the lead sponsorship again. The conference will focus on a range of issues surrounding the development and promotion of science, technology, engineering and maths education (STEM) with a variety of speakers including Dr Thad Starner, Georgia Tech, British Science Writer Dr Ben Goldacre, Sarah Baird, Arizona Maths Teacher Association and the Chief Scientific Adviser to the Irish Government Professor Patrick Cunningham lined up for the event. The key theme to be addressed is – how can educators inspire students to engage with science, technology, engineering and maths?
The 2011 Conference will also include a performance by the Maths Buskers, a troupe of mathematicians who have turned a mixture of maths, stand up comedy and street performance into an engaging way to get people interested in maths. Using things like card tricks and strait jackets they are generating interest in maths and also doing innovative teacher training days to help maths teachers communicate their subject in new and interesting ways.
One speaker will be wearing something you don’t see a lot of people wearing – a computer !!! Dr Thad Starner of Georgia Tech, Atlanta is a strong advocate of continuous-access, everyday-use systems, and has worn his own customized wearable computer continuously since 1993. Some of the benefits he receives from wearing a computer include being able to type and access the Internet while walking around or talking to others allowing him to take notes on a conversation in real-time, opening up notes on a certain subject and e-mailing them at any time or even having two conversations at once, one online and one face to face, and if he comes across something he doesn’t know or recognize, he can instantly find out. His work has gotten him named as one Technology Review’s TR100 top 100 remarkable innovators in 1999.His work has also been featured on national and international news fronts such as CBS’s 60 Minutes, CNN, BBC, and The Wall Street Journal.
The Atlantic Conference on Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths Education takes place in Tullamore, Co. Offaly on Thursday 10th March 2011. A full conference programme and further details including booking information is available by going to www.atlanticcorridor.ie.
Over the next few weeks we’ll be talking about some of the various events taking place during Science Week, which runs this year between 7 – 14 November. More than 400 events are expected to take place across the country from Sunday 7th November until Sunday 14th November. As part of Science Week 2010, a national programme of events will be rolled out throughout the country, including science and technology festivals in Galway, Sligo, Mayo, Waterford and Cork. The ever popular lecture series returns to the Science Gallery, Dublin, with talks open to the public and school children, speakers include Dr Martin Hendry who will give a controversial lecture entitled “Was the moon landing a Hoax”. In addition, Icebreaker and B.J. Cole will perform music from Brian Eno’s Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks in the National Concert Hall (9th November). Information on all of this year’s events can be found in the events section on the Science Week website.
This year’s theme is ‘Our Place in Space.’ The space theme is currently very topical, with Jupiter clearly visible over Ireland during the coming months and the recent discovery of light from a supernova explosion which took place 290 million years ago by an Irish amateur astronomer. Science Week 2010 aims to raise awareness of the space industry in Ireland, with a wide range of activities taking place which will look at the latest happenings in astronomy and space exploration.
Conor Lenihan TD, Minister for Science, Technology, Innovation launched SciFest 2011 with a ‘Celebration of Excellence in Science and Maths’ in the Innovation Open Lab in Intel Ireland, Leixlip, Co. Kildare on Friday 8 October. Thirty-five second-level students were awarded Intel Excellence in Science medals in recognition of their achievement in SciFest 2010 at fourteen Institutes of Technology and the Millennium Forum in Derry. Each of the thirty-five students had been either individual or group winners of the ‘Best Project’ awards at SciFest 2010. The winners of the SciFest 2010 Mathematics in Science Award were also announced and trophies were presented to the three projects that the judges decided best illustrated the importance of mathematics in science.
SciFest is a national festival of science organised regionally in collaboration with the Institutes of Technology. It is open to all second-level students. The aim is to encourage a love of science through project-based learning and to provide more opportunities for students to present and display the results of their scientific investigations. The SciFest initiative is jointly funded by Intel and Discover Science and Engineering as project partners. It is supported by a number of companies such as BT, Abbott and Dairymaster.
The inaugural SciFest was held in the Institute of Technology, Tallaght, Dublin, in 2006 and SciFest was launched nationwide in September 2007. Scifest 2010 took place in fourteen Institutes of Technology and the Millennium Forum in Derry with over 2649 students from almost 200 schools exhibiting 1097 projects. In the three years since Scifest was launched nationwide, 6241 students have exhibited 2613 projects. This represents an increase in participation of 23% in 2009 and a further increase of 34% in 2010. The rapid increase in participation in SciFest is a clear indication of the interest and enthusiasm among students and teachers in the investigative approach to teaching and learning science.
The Mathematics in Science Award, which was piloted this year, will be rolled out to each venue in 2011. The winner in each venue will receive a trophy sponsored by the National Centre for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching and Learning (NCE-MSTL) at University of Limerick. To celebrate the International Year of Chemistry PharmaChemical Ireland are also awarding a trophy at each Institute to the project with the best chemical content.
Blackrock Castle Observatory has taken inspiration from the world of Harry Potter and will run astronomy workshops over the October midterm break.
Astronomy is the only field of study at Hogwarts that has a direct equivalent in the Muggle world. In Harry Potter’s world astronomy classes take place in the Astronomy Tower, the tallest tower in Hogwarts and are taught by Professor Aurora Sinistra. Practical astronomy midterm classes at Cork’s Blackrock Castle are taught by the silver haired Frances and Ordinary Wizard Level certs are awarded to graduates in a ceremony at the tower top. Lessons involve simulated observations of the night skies with plenispheres and include details of the Great World Wide Starcount, a citizen scientist exercise which encourages everyone to go outside, look skyward after dark, note the stars in certain constellations, and report what they could see online.
The workshops are suitable for children aged 6-10 and cost €6 (no booking required – also includes includes a guided trip to the tower top and an Ordinary Wizard Level certificate.) Workshops run daily over midterm from Saturday October 23 to Sunday 31 from 2.30-4pm. Parents can retire to the recently refurbished restaurant at Blackrock Castle and discuss the meaning of life over coffee and home baked treats.
We will be announcing news about Science Week shotrly, but in the meantime check out MathsWeek.ie. This is the fifth annual Science Week and will run from will run from Saturday 9th – Saturday 16th October (Hamilton Day). Check out the website for details on all the events. One of the main highlights this year will be the Professor Marcus du Sautoy from Oxford University, who will be speaking at the RDS on the 11th. If you are around Dublin city centre this weekend, make sure to check out Maths on the Street, beside the Stephens Green Shopping Centre. Maths on the Street will also come to Belfast and Waterford this year for the first time also. 61,378 students are set to participate this year, so make sure to log onto MathsWeek.ie to find out what is on where you live.
Engineers Ireland is looking for an enthusiastic and energetic person with excellent communication skills to help coordinate activities in the “STEPS to engineering” schools awareness programme.
It established the programme in 2000 to encourage primary and post-primary students to explore the worlds of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
STEPS to engineering manages and coordinates initiatives and activities within schools while supplying up-to-date information on engineering as a career through the Steps.ie website and publications.
The programme is supported by the Department of Education & Science, Discover Science & Engineering, FÁS and a number of major engineering employers.
Check their website for more details about the STEPS to engineering Coordinator position.
To apply, please email your CV along with a cover letter stating why you believe you are the right candidate for the positon to jbutler@engineersireland.ie
The BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition has kicked off at the RDS. We have a stand at the event. You can’t miss us, it’s called “Discover Sport” stand and there’s a F1 Ferrari car at it. You can learn about the science and engineering that goes into Formula 1 racing, and see how a wind tunnel simulates the aerodynamic air flow around model designs such as those for racing cars. Read more about it here. If you’re at the event why not call by and say hello. For updates on the exhibition, check out the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition twitter account or blog.
We’re counting down to the BT Young Scientist & Technology Exxhibition next week and we’ll post details of our stand shortly. There’s lots of coverage in the media this week about some of the projects we can expect. We thought we’d flag how some of the previous winners are getting along, on our sister site Science.ie we have a story about Eimear O’Carroll and Rhona Togher, group runners up award at the 2009 show.
Eimear and Rhona set up a company – RestoredHearing.ie – with their former physics teacher at Ursuline College in Sligo, Anthony Carolan. For the Young Scientist competition the team devised a simple therapy which eases temporary tinnitus for anyone with internet access and a set of outer ear headphones. Last month their company won the “Emerging Technology Award” at the Connacht provincial final of the Ulster Bank Business Achievers Awards, and they will go on to the national finals later this year.
