After Dark: Science on Show – Engineering fun returns to National Museum Cardiff

February half term saw the return of Museum After Dark, the annual collaborative event hosted by the School of Engineering and Amgueddfa Cymru at the National Museum Cardiff.

The free event, now in its 7th year, proved once again to be a huge hit. Over 1,200 visitors explored the programme of all-ages activities on offer throughout the museum.

The event provides an opportunity for local families to learn about the interesting and ground-breaking work being undertaken at the School of Engineering by speaking to the engineers, scientists and students at the forefront of the research.

Event organiser and Cardiff University Public Engagement Officer Debbie Syrop commented: “Engineering is often an invisible activity, and many people don’t really know what engineers do. This event is always a great opportunity for us to engage with people from the local area and show how our work improves their lives and community."

Staff and students from Musculoskeletal Biomechanics Research Facility demonstrated motion capture technology and encouraged visitors to have a go at assembling a knee, whilst the Hydroenvironmental group used a flume tank to show how gates, stairs and tiles ensure migrating fish are not disrupted when flood defences are built.

Our third-year project Startracker team talked to visitors about their automated tripod that enables the photographing of moving astronomical objects, as the Advanced High Voltage Engineering Research Centre ran several activities involving electric trains and pylons where visitors could make their own electric motor.

Students from the Semi-conductor Centre for Doctoral Training helped CSconnected talk about compound semi-conductors in Wales, and staff from the Translational Research Hub talked about their work in quantum physics. A joint bovine tuberculosis detection project between Aberystwyth University and Cardiff University was also represented.

The Show and Tell talks covered a wide range of topics, highlights of which included Lightning Research, Geotechnical Engineering, Medical Physics and Climate Science.

Visitors who took in a show in the auditorium were treated to Chair of Cardiff Astronomical Society Phill Wallace giving A Brief Tour of the Universe, A Mammoth Talk! by Dr Lucy McCobb and the musical talents of Jon Chase and his very popular A Science Rapper's Guide to the Solar System.

Additional activities were also on offer from other schools in the university. The School of Physics and Astronomy demonstrated how infrared cameras are used in astronomy, Computer Science presented basic coding activities, Earth and Environmental Sciences helped visitors create microfossils after viewing them with a microscope and brought their polar region research to life with polar explorer fancy dress, and the Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre team brought their life-size inflatable MRI machine.

Professor Rhys Pullin, Director of Public Engagement, added: “It’s a brilliant opportunity to share our research achievements, showcase the impact of our work, and inspire the next generation of engineers and scientists.”