School pupils find out about the creativity of science as Imperial joins its neighbours for Creative Quarter 2009 - <em>News</em>

Monday 16 November 2009
By John-Paul Jones

Hundreds of 13-19 year olds descended on Imperial and its neighbours last Friday (13 November) to find out more about careers in creative industries.

Now in its fourth year, the Creative Quarter event saw a range of institutions and organisations in South Kensington throw open their doors to school students. Imperial hosted three science demonstrations covering the behaviour of the sun, everyday fireworks and the science of the sun.

Imperial’s events were designed to demonstrate that creativity is as important for scientific research as for the many other fields represented.  Silje Andersen, Outreach Office Manager, who organised Imperial’s contribution to Creative Quarter, said: “The College wants to get across to young people that creativity is an inherent and vital part of science. Major discoveries and innovations come from using imagination and finding creative solutions to problems”.

Dr Nic Harrigan, Outreach Officer in the Department of Physics, was one of the day’s demonstrators. He said: “I think that events like this are hugely important. This is a great chance for people to come into Imperial and to see that science is not scary or something that they can’t understand. Science is about the real world and how it applies to us.”

Dr Harrigan used his session to highlight the science behind an everyday activity, using a combination of leaf blowers, toilet paper, giant smoke rings and microwaved light bulbs to demonstrate the science behind a cup of tea. He added: “People often say that science isn’t very creative and that really gets me agitated because science lets you see the world in such a unique and amazing way - you suddenly start seeing a lot more in seemingly dull things."

In another demonstration Dr Helen O’Brien from Physics talked about the behaviour of the sun, including sunspots and the explosive power of solar flares. Shaquille, one of the visiting school pupils in the session, said: “I was already quite fond of science but I think this opened some new doors for me. I enjoyed what I learned and I think it’ll come in handy for the future."

Another visitor, Joseph, said: "I think it’s changed my perspective of science, because I used to think science was a little bit boring but now it’s changed my mind because I’ve learned about explosions on the sun and things I never knew before.”

As well as Imperial, Kensington Palace, the Royal Albert Hall, the Royal Colleges of Art and Music, museums and other neighbours in the Exhibition Road Cultural Group all hosted demonstrations, work-shops and activities. Each institution took the opportunity to showcase the creativity taking place within it, as well as providing some career information about professions in their fields.

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