Young Scientists!

UCL - University College London is consistently ranked among the top ten universities in the world, and rated 2nd in the UK for research power. It was the first British University to award degrees to women - and 150 years ago was a pioneer in Engineering Education. This year, to celebrate a century and a half of that Engineering, UCL held a festival, showcasing all the brilliant stuff they do.

Jon was heavily involved in planning and delivering this event - and got tickets for Rosie, Jess,Bob and myself to visit on Saturday. It was great fun, and we learned lots [and I was too busy to take more pictures]

The girls learned about blood, brains and bones. And lasers, and undersea exploration, and scanners...and so much more

I was impressed by the patient way students explained things to all the children [and adults] The atmosphere was lovely. Jess loved her wristband [which she insisted on calling her bandage] Then a rather splashy handwashing session after lunch in Leon caused it to completely disintegrate. The girl on the entrance desk cheerfully gave her a new one. As the afternoon wore on, we had a quick trip to the Playground next door. 

Jess and I got the bus home, and Rosie and Bob stayed on for a lecture in Bloomsbury Theatre with Andrew Smyth, aerospace engineer, creator and judge of Netflix Baking Impossible. When she got home later, Ro told me all about materials and floating and sinking - how they each had a rice krispie cake and a chocolate button to assist with the experiments. She was positively bubbling with excitement. And did you know, Grandma, that Cadbury's Mini Rolls are the favourite snack of cross channel swimmers? Because if you are attempting this feat, you are not allowed to touch the people accompanying you in the support boat. But CMRs float - so they can throw you a snack and you can gobble it up without breaking the rules! [Its chocolate coat helps it float]

The girls both consider themselves part of the UCL family - their parents work there, and both have loved belonging to the staff nursery. Rosie met up with a buddy from her nursery days and they had a great chat together.

So much work goes into an event like this, and I was so glad we could go with the children. It was all free, too. If it encourages more young people to think about a career in engineering or research, it will be worth al the hard work.

Thank you Jon, and the rest of your team, for making this festival happen!