November 2012 Interactive Themes at Galway Science & Technology Festival Exhibition

The 15^th Galway Science and Technology Festival, part of National Science Week and sponsored by Medtronic Galway, will host the Festival’s Final Exhibition Day at NUI Galway on Sunday, 25 November from 10am to 6pm.

Professor Pat Fottrell, Chairman of Science Foundation Ireland is the Festival’s special guest and will visit exhibits accompanied by Dr Jim Browne, President of NUI Galway, Mr Gerard Kilcommins, VP of Global Vascular Operations Medtronic, Professor Tom Sherry, Dean of Science NUI Galway, Mr Michael Carmody, President of GMIT, Dr Des Foley, Head of Science & Research GMIT and Mr Tom Hyland, Chairman of Galway Science & Technology Festival.

During the Final Day Exhibition at NUI Galway visitors can enjoy over 80 interactive stands representing areas including research, education, industry and the environment at the Bailey Allen Hall and Orbsen Building. Visitors can take a tour of the new Engineering Building and visit the Zoology and Marine Biology Museum, while 20 separate shows for families will take place in the IT Building, Aula Maxima and the Arts and Science Concourse buildings. There will be a number of volunteers who will direct visitors to shows and exhibits and there will also be a Park and Ride facility at Corrib Village, Newcastle with a shuttle bus to and from the University Campus.

Up to 20 Primary and Secondary Schools will exhibit stands covering Life Science, Technology and Physics and Chemistry themes, with the overall winning schools receiving a prize for most creative exhibits. Visitors can expect to be greeted by students lurking around exhibit areas dressed in mad scientist and bacteria costumes.

Festival Sponsors providing exciting interactive exhibits include Medtronic, Galway Enterprise Board, NUI Galway, GMIT, Cisco, Boston Scientific, Avaya, SAP, Covidien, Hewlett Packard, Creganna, The Marine Institute and Galway County Council.

Medtronic’s exhibit will focus on Innovation, with engineers on hand to demonstrate how to get from Idea to Product and all the steps in between. There will be a showcase of products for the treatment of Coronary Artery Disease and Hypertension. Visitors to the stand are encouraged to ask lots of questions and may be in with a chance of winning a prize. Medtronic will also provide a fun Games Corner where children of all ages are invited to come and test their manual dexterity with lots of helpful people from Medtronic on hand to greet you on the day.

Gerard Kilcommins, VP of Global Vascular Operations and General Manager Galway Site Medtronic commented, “Medtronic became the main sponsor of the Galway Science and Technology Festival over ten years ago.  Since then, we are delighted to have experienced the journey that has seen the event evolve and flourish into one of the highlights in the calendars of the educational and science communities. This year’s theme is “Everyday Experimenting” and experimentation is something that makes Science and Technology so fascinating. Engaging the younger generation throughout this festival about the wonders and possibilities of Science and Technology will help ensure we have the pool of talented scientists and engineers so necessary for Ireland’s future success as a nation. As Thomas A. Edison once said, ‘to have a great idea, have a lot of them’ and I have no doubt the action-packed Exhibition on Sunday will generate lots of ideas and open minds to the many great possibilities and opportunities out there.”

The Computer & Communication Museum of Ireland, part of the University’s Digital Enterprise Research Institute, will be on display in the Bailey Allen, providing a fascinating insight into advances in communications and computing through the years. Hewlett Packard will join the Coderdojo Galway members in the Museum and demonstrate coding. Also, on the day a Prize-Giving Ceremony will take place at the Boston Scientific stand, awarding the winner of the Coding the Big Bang competition where entrants had to create a web-based computer programme that explains the role of CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. The competition coincided with the CERN ‘Accelerating Science’ Exhibition sponsored by Boston Scientific in association with Coderdojo Galway City. Visitors to the Boston Scientific stand will also learn about the technology behind Angioplasty and Balloon Formation and try their hand at the Guidewire Tracking Challenge for a chance to win an iPad Nano every hour.

NUI Galway will have a number of exhibits including a H-Racer and Solar Hydrogen Station. The H-Racer is the smallest and coolest hydrogen fuel cell car in the world. Visitors can witness the power of new energy technology in the palm of their hand. The car does not need batteres and uses a real fuel cell and its own on-board hydrogen storage system. The Hydrogen station will provide the H-Racer with an unlimited supply of clean energy. To create free hydrogen fuel at the flick of a switch, just add water to the station’s tank while fuelling is animated by a special blue light display.

GMIT will have a number of interactive Science and Technology exhibit stands to mark their 40^th Anniversary. Exhibit themes include How Engines Work where visitors will see how different engine types work with interactive models on display as well as touch screen animations, and Energy Engineering will demonstrate how energy management is a vital part of everyday life and learn about how energy can be harnessed from the sea, the sun and the wind.

Family shows include Black John The Bogus Pirate, a cartoon workshop aimed at teaching children of all ages about marine environment while having fun. K’nex Roadshow, is based on a dynamic open ended spatial building system and Mr Bug with Matt Lewis allows children get up close to friendly tropical animals like snakes and lizards. Killaloe Exploration Dome is a mobile planetarium designed to explore science, astronomy, geology and geography in a fun and interactive way. True Physics Show is an interactive hands-on science show where students participate in launching rockets and flying helicopters and Sue McGrath’s Chemistry Show will demonstrate wacky experiments like super foams, colour changes and disgusting slime.

Galway Science and Technology Festival Chairman, Tom Hyland commented, “On behalf of the Board of the Galway Science and Technology Festival, I would like to thank our main sponsor Medtronic and all of our partners who have contributed to the growth and development of this Festival into a very significant vehicle for the promotion of the STEM subjects to our young people and help bring excitement and fun to Science and Technology for children and families across the city and county.” 

Exhibition day bookings can be made at www.galwayscience.eventbrite.com to help people plan their day.

ENDS