EDEN2020 at The Great Exhibition Road Festival 2019

by Siobhan Markus

01 July 2019

EDEN2020 team were out again teaching our future scientists and families all about the project at the Great Exhibition Road Festival 2019

I’m not a robot. It is not something you had to tick when entering the Robot Zone of the Great Exhibition Road Festival over the weekend. EDEN2020 opened its pop-up station again at the jam-packed two-day celebration of science and the arts to show families, colleagues, students, everyone what the EDEN2020 project is up to with its innovative neurosurgery project in using steerable catheters and robotic systems.

A child playing the steerable catheter demo

EDEN2020 engineers and researchers spoke with hundreds of festival-goers and took them on the EDEN2020 story from the inspiration of the wood wasp ovipositor right up to the integration of the steerable catheter with a robotic system to deliver life-saving medicine to almost impossible to reach places in the human brain.

The EDEN2020 engineers in the Robot Zone ready for festival-goers to come learn about the project

It is important for the team behind the EU-funded research project to engage in such public engagement activities as EDEN2020 coordinator, Ferdinando Rodriguez y Baena says:

“The festival provides a wonderful opportunity to get the next generation excited about STEM subjects in general and robotics in particular! Boys and girls of all ages come to the stands so that researchers can share their passion for the field and demo with pride what are bespoke interactive setups designed to make complex concepts more accessible and exciting. It is always a privilege to be a part of the robotic offering at the festival... what a team!”

EDEN2020 coordinator, Prof Ferdinando Rodriguez Y Baena explaining the EDEN2020 project to festival-goers

As part of the Imperial College ethos, EDEN2020 is an exemplary project replete with transformative collaborations and partnerships across the EU. This is something the team is all about celebrating; showing what impact the project will have on the medical and engineering fields and most importantly, on the health and well-being of neurosurgery patients.

Tom, EDEN2020 engineer with festival-goers and the steerable catheter demo

In the spirit of the Great Exhibition of 1851, Imperial College London partnered with the Natural History Museum, Science Museum, V&A, Royal Albert Hall and a host of other galleries, museums and institutions around South Kensington to create this all-inclusive revelry of fun, learning, and science. The festival extended all the way from the Serpentine Gallery in Hyde Park to the end of Exhibition Road near South Kensington train station.

EDEN2020 engineer, Marlene with a future scientist and the steerable catheter demo

The EDEN2020 team had a fantastic time engaging with future scientists and potentially future Imperial scientists and can’t wait to do it all again soon.