One of the longest running and anticipated events over the holidays is the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. Last Christmas, it was the turn of University of Bath’s very own Professor Saiful Islam to step up and broadcast his scientific know-how on the topic of energy. The Royal Institution Christmas Lectures have been running since 1825 and were first introduced by the influential scientist, Michael Faraday. So you can imagine our delight when Professor Islam and the Royal Institution invited the CSCT to come down to the Faraday Museum in London and take part in a family fun day!
Michael Faraday (left) and Saiful Islam (right), speakers at Royal Institution Christmas lectures - a lot has changed over the years!
So one bright and early Saturday morning we set off down to London prepared for a day packed full of science fun! We split into teams and set our sights on the busy streets of London. One group headed off to catch the train while the others chauffeured our activities in the car. As part of "team train” and as a newcomer to London, I’m not sure I could have navigated the London underground without the help of Ria Atri (cohort, 2016). Without her help, I may have found myself stuck on the Underground circle line for hours. Thankfully, we made it in plenty of time and met up with "team car” at the venue to set up our stand for the day.
With an energy theme in mind, we brought three of our themed activities. Our Energy Ballot, where participants tried to aim at their favourite form of energy on our handy dartboard. The fun and competitive Cathode Causeway solar cell game - where players aimed to get there “electron” from one side of the board to the other before their opponent! (very popular with rival siblings for some reason…). Finally we brought our Fruitbox; where we treated our audiences to a game of Pacman, but the only controls they could use were pieces of fruit. Using these demonstrations we gauged public opinion on different energy sources, demonstrated how we are improving solar cells and explained how we can replace finite materials with renewable alternatives in electrical appliances.
Excited visitors waiting patiently for doors to open while we’re busy finish setting up.
We were swept off our feet with the enthusiasm of our visitors, who were all super keen to get involved in our activities and learn more about our goals at the CSCT. We had loads of fun running our busy stand and engaging with families over the course of day.
With little time to spare, it was a busy day at the Faraday Museum for the young researchers
With things going so well, it felt like no time at all before we had to begin packing up and making our way home. It was a pleasure to take part in the exhibition. On behalf of the CSCT, I’d like to thank both Professor Saiful Islam for inviting us and the Royal Institute for hosting us on the day.
Dan is currently working on his PhD project: 'Bridging the Gap in Sustainable Continuous Chemicals Manufacture: Integrating Upstream Synthesis and Downstream Crystallisation' with Professor Chick Wilson, Dr Elias Martinez Hernandez and Professor Matthew Davidson.
Respond
