February Engineering Our Future: NUI Galway host free Family Fun Day for Engineers Week 2019

NUI Galway is calling all wanna-be-engineers to participate in a free full-day family event ‘Engineering Our Future: Family Fun Day’, which will take place on Saturday, 2 March, from 10am–4pm in the Alice Perry Engineering Building at NUI Galway. 

The Family Fun Day is part of the Engineers Week 2019 which celebrates engineering across Ireland. The Family Fun Day will provide plenty of science and engineering shows, movie screenings, workshops and hands-on activities that will inspire young (and older) people.

Young and older attendees can engage with the ‘Ireland’s Ingenious Engineers’ show by Scientific Sue and explore the amazing scientific discoveries and engineering feats endeavoured by some of our hugely talented Irish Scientists over a period of 350 years. Designing (probably) the best drinking chocolate in the world, creating a cloud in a bottle, exploring colour changing vegetables, making ice-cream in a baggie and sending rockets sky high are just a few of the creative demonstrations that will be used by Sue on her historical scientific journey.

The ‘Focus on Forces’ show will investigate compressive and tensile strength - using forces to escape from jail or sitting on a bed of nails! Magnetic force will be explored, static and current electricity investigated; A close look at the flight experiments, see yourself what is the fastest way to inflate the slide used for emergency evacuations!

Families are encouraged to come and build their own wind turbine, investigate where water comes from and where it goes, explore the vast range of chemicals used in our daily lives (which typically end up going down our drain and into our environment!), interact with CoderDojo Ninjas to learn about programming, explore the GEEC: Galway Energy Efficient Car, relax at the free LEGO play area or learn about our rich engineering heritage. These and many other activities showing the world of civil, environmental, mechanical, biomedical and electronic engineering, and information technology will be available on the day.

Families can watch ‘Dream Big: Engineering Our World’ narrated by Academy Award winner Jeff Bridges which celebrates the human creativity behind engineering marvels big and small from the Great Wall of China and the world’s tallest buildings to underwater robots, solar cars and smart, sustainable cities, and show how engineers push the limits of innovation in unexpected and amazing ways.

According to Professor Peter Mc Hugh, Dean of College of Engineering and Informatics at NUI Galway: “Engineering is in every aspect of our lives; it allows us to live, communicate, travel, work, play, stay safe and healthy. By taking maths and science from the lab, engineers dream of, invent, design and build things that change the reality and future of all human beings.”

Speaking about the Family Fun Day, Dr Jamie Goggins from the School of Engineering at NUI Galway and the MaREI Centre, said: “Children are natural engineers. They love to design and build things, using whatever they can get their hands on. With knowledge, innovation and creativity engineers change the reality and future of all human beings. Join us for the Engineering Our Future: Family Fun Day and explore Engineering through exciting and fun hands-on activities and shows, as well as meeting with practicing engineers to better learn about the world around us, understand the role of Engineering in our lives and its impact on our future.

All details about the Family Fun Day are available at www.nuigalway.ie/engineersweek  and bookings of free tickets can also be made through the website. Tickets can be booked in advanced for some shows, but it will also be possible to attend shows without pre-booking on a first-come-first-served basis on the day.

For further information on ‘Engineering Our Future: Family Fun Day’ contact Jamie Goggins jamie.goggins@nuigalway.ie, Magdalena Hajdukiewicz magdalena.hajdukiewicz@nuigalway.ie or William Finnegan william.finnegan@nuigalway.ie.