SCIENCE FUN FOR ST.ETCHENS WITH IRISH MANUFACTURING RESEARCH

Sunday Times best-selling author Dr Steve Brusatte came to Tullamore during the Midlands Science festival to talk to locals about his life in dinosaur discoveries. He is one of the world’s leading scientists of a new generation of dinosaur hunters armed with cutting edge technology and he is piecing together the complete story of how the dinosaurs ruled the earth for 150 million years.Steve’s amazing work and discoveries have featured on BBC, CNN and National Geographic and he is the author of the Sunday Times Best Seller “The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs.”
International Terrorism expert, Prof Andrew Silke and Brian Gibson of Forensic Science Ireland, Jackie Gorman and Pauline Nally of Midlands Science and Craig Slattery, UCD and Midlands Science at the Science Week event, which explored forensic science, poisoning by spies and the psychology of terrorism. The event took place in Athlone Little Theatre and featured a crime scene with clues for audience members to use to solve the crime.
Aidan and Mary Harris age 8 and 6, Aeveen Rollins, age 6 from Longford, Pauline Nally, Helena Warnock
Photo by Shelley Corcoran
The annual Midlands Science Festival kicked off on Saturday with the Abbott Discovery Day which took place in St. Mel’s school in Longford as part of Science Week 2018.
The day featured fun for people of all ages with dinosaurs, tortoises, exciting experiments, a mobile planetarium and lots more! There is lots more planned for the week ahead so keep an eye on our events page for details! #scienceweek
Midlands Science teamed up with Bord na Móna recently to deliver a series of engaging and interactive workshops to Edenderry pupils as part of the recent national ‘Engineers Week’ celebrations.
Orla Kane from Bord na Móna said,
‘Bord na Móna was delighted to team up with local development company, Midlands Science to help inspire local school pupils and hopefully build enthusiasm in them to consider engineering as a possible future subject choice. Engineers Week is the ideal platform for us to address both students and teachers and to share our share our knowledge and experiences, whilst also making sure we that what we are saying is interesting and engaging. It’s important to demonstrate how engineers make such a difference in our world, increase understanding about the need for engineers and bring to life what engineering is all about by introducing someone working in this field within our company.’
The annual Engineers Week event is coordinated on a national basis by Engineers Ireland’s STEPS programme which is funded under Science Foundation Ireland’s Discover programme. Midlands Science together with industry and academic partners wanted to ensure that a focus was given to encouraging young people locally to take a closer look at engineering and demonstrate how far-reaching, creative and innovative engineering actually is as a sector.
Jackie Gorman, CEO of Midlands Science said,
“Ireland needs more future engineers so we really need more young people to understand what the world of engineering is all about, its impact and how widely it is used in the real world. Giving students the opportunity to talk directly to engineers and engage in fun, hands-on activities that showcase and explain engineering is at the heart of Engineers Week and we were delighted to be able to facilitate events for some local schools here in the Midlands to help inspire the next generation of engineers.’
Photos:
Oaklands community college with Laura Ryan, engineer from Bord na Mona and teacher (left) Ruth Monahan.
Midlands Science collaborated with Gas Networks Ireland and the Gateway Youth Project in Athlone recently to deliver a series of engaging and interactive workshops to primary school pupils as part of the recent national ‘Engineers Week’ celebrations.
Declan Holmes of ‘Science Ireland’ has been presenting interactive science shows to over 80,000 students in 1,000 schools around the country since 2001 and his workshops in the Midlands this week featured the science behind rockets, creating waves and musical instruments followed by a discussion on the future of engineering from how we power our houses to self-driving cars.
Christina van der Kamp, Corporate Responsibility Manager at Gas Networks Ireland said,
Gas Networks Ireland is very pleased to be collaborating with Midlands Science during ‘Engineers Week’ to deliver a day of exciting and interactive workshops to over 500 pupils in Athlone. We are passionate about introducing young people to the exciting world of science and engineering from an early age and this initiative is the ideal way to do so and at the same time, it enables us to connect with the local community. We actively encourage young people to consider the whole world of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) and showing them how it impacts our lives on an everyday basis is a great place to start.’
The annual Engineers Week event is coordinated on a national basis by Engineers Ireland’s STEPS programme which is funded under Science Foundation Ireland’s Discover programme. Midlands Science together with industry and academic partners wanted to ensure that a focus was given to encouraging young people locally to take a closer look at engineering and demonstrate how far-reaching, creative and innovative engineering actually is as a sector.
The Midlands Science Festival is proud to name Google as a new supporting partner for 2017. We had a chat with Google’s Claire Conneely, Computer Science Education Outreach team (EMEA) to hear a little about the company’s STEM outreach and why its so important for them to support events like Science Week and the Midlands Science Festival.
Claire, we are delighted that you will be supporting this year’s Midlands Science Festival and are proud to name Google as a partner. Can you tell us a bit about the type of STEM outreach that Google does in Ireland?
At Google we are passionate about STEM, in particular Computer Science (CS). I am part of the CS Education team at Google – we are a global team who help millions of students and educators across the world develop technical skills for the future. More than 65% of students will work in jobs that don’t even exist today (http://reports.weforum.org/future-of-jobs-2016).
At Google, want to help prepare them for that future by getting them excited about where CS can take them. Coding allows students to learn with technology (not from it, as is all-too-often the case) and to be active creators of their own content, not passive consumers. Many transferrable skills can be learned through studying CS, such as Computational Thinking, logic, problem solving – skills that we use at Google every day!
Do you have a science or technology background yourself?
Not exactly… music was my first passion! I originally studied to become a secondary school music teacher, which I did for a number of years and absolutely loved. In those early years of teaching, I
became fascinated by technology and its role in helping students learn, so I decided to return to college to do a Masters in Technology and Learning. From there, I got the opportunity to join a small team in Trinity College Dublin to co-found and develop a new STEM outreach programme, which eventually became Bridge21. I’m very proud that today it’s one of the university’s flagship outreach programmes. Three years ago I had the chance to apply for this job at Google and I’ve been here ever since!
Recent data shows that Ireland continues to experience a skills shortage in the STEM sector. Why is it important for companies like Google to support events like the Midlands Science Festival and what do you think we can do to keep dispelling the myth that science is difficult?
We are delighted to be able to sponsor important events like the Midlands Science festival. The best way to dispel the myths about STEM is to expose students from an early age. It is also about lighting a spark and then keeping that spark alive throughout primary and second-level schooling, for those who have
the interest and aptitude. Some 98% of our engineers at Google had some level of exposure to CS before college. I am thrilled to see the introduction of Computational Thinking to the Primary School Maths curriculum, and the new Leaving Certificate Computer Science subject. Great opportunities lie ahead for our young people in years to come!
Are there are any specific challenges in attracting women into science and technology related fields and do you have any suggestions on how this could be addressed?
So many girls start out with a love of science and technology, but lose it somewhere along the way. Google believes that a diverse workforce leads to better products for diverse users and we are especially committed to reversing the negative trends around women in technology-related fields, in particular CS.
To guide our outreach and investments in this space, we conducted a study in 2014 to identify and understand the factors that influence young women’s decisions to pursue degrees in CS. It identified
encouragement and exposure as the leading factors influencing this critical choice and learned that anyone can help increase female participation in CS, regardless of their technical abilities or background. The most encouraging outcome of the study was that these factors have practical solutions, that anyone can undertake, requiring little more than time and interest. There’s enormous potential for positive change in this space!
What is your favourite science fact?
Your heartbeat mimics the beat of the music you’re listening to.
We are really excited about welcoming the Junior Einsteins Science Club’ to Laois this year. This unique club incorporates core science into fun sessions of hands-on experiments designed to stimulate and create a love of science and nature.
Pupils will get to make and do their own experiments wearing their lab coats and goggles and using real scientific equipment including a university grade Van Der Graff Generator. This is always a popular one and we cant wait!
Phone number: 057 93 239 02
For all corporate queries:
Jackie Gorman – jgorman@midlandsscience.ie
For all press and communication queries:
Gillian Maunsell – gmaunsell@midlandsscience.ie
For all partnership and sponsorship queries:
Pauline Nally – pnally@midlandsscience.ie
Block 6,
Central Business Park,
Clonminch,
Tullamore,
Co. Offaly.
R35 F8K0