Saturday 10 March 2012

Notts Uni May Fest 2012

Nottingham University's 2012 Mayfest was a great event for all the family.

Children could enjoy all the interactive demonstrationsevent while the grown ups could try and catch the researchers out with some trick questions - and both could marvel at some of the leading edge research being undertaken at the University.

To pick on just a few of the highlights of this years event ....

Researching alternatives to fossil fuels is understandably a very hot topic and teams were on hand to show what direction they were taking to develop better storage solutions for Hydrogen, better fuel cells, improved bio-fuel processes and much more.

A Fuel Cell powered car


A researcher explains how solar power works


Poster on some Hydrogen storage technologies being investigated


But if that isn't your cup of tea, how do you fancy checking out the canines on a sabre tooth tiger skull?

A Sabre-tooth Tiger skull


No university open day can be complete without an appearance by some liquid nitrogen and the shattering of fruits etc that have been frozen very solid by being immersed in its cryogenic depths.

Sir, can you confirm that this is indeed a Kiwi fruit?



Liquid Nitrogen - the crowd pleaser.



Mayfest spans the entire Universtiy Park Campus, and included tours of some of the "eco-homes" on the site. These are used in collaboration wit industrial partners to assess and trial various energy saving technologie, such as shared power generation and high lvels of insulation.
Two eco-homes investigating different energy saving technologies



Radio controlled cars and 'copters were also on hand to amaze and impress the young ones.

RC cars and copters -    cool!


And there was a Segway, which had a very long queue of children wanting to have a go...

The Segway- how DOES it stay up?


The Physics Buskers were had a series of engaging short experiments, including one in which showed that a balloon could be pierced, without popping, by a skewer....so long as it went through the top and bottom of the balloon, which are relatively thick and so less likely to stretch and tear.

With careful positioning, you can pierce a balloon !


Another cool demonstration showed how a simple mix of cornflower and water can make funky patterns on a loudspeaker

A mix of cornflour and water will dance if you play some fat tunes!

The History Department was showing some wonderful old documents, as well as the technology they were using to digitize them for posterity

Old documents on display...


...and discharged


oh my goodness, there's a Raspberry Pi !!

OMG ! A Raspberry Pi !!!


Lastly (although there was much else of offer that NSB didn't get a chance to look around), the School of Economics were playing various financial games with the visitors to show how certain principles worked.

A researcher plays a financial game with a visitor

Poster on the Tradegy of the Commons

A great event, NSB is already looking forward to the next Mayfest on 18th May 2013
Mayfest was a well-attended event

Looking forward to the next Mayfest on 18th May 2013

Why not atttend the 2013 May Fest on 18th May (see here) You can read a review of the 2011 event here and see pictures here.


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