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Exploring the science behind technology
UCD researchers met hundreds of visitors on Saturday, January 16th 2010 at the 2010 BT Young Scientist & Technology exhibition. The UCD demonstration included input from several Conway researchers.
Conway Fellow, Professor Geraldine Butler from the UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science led a workshop where students got to grips with the intricacies of the DNA double helix.
In a demonstration entitled “Fun with a Microscope”, visitors got hands-on experience, preparing and examining simple slides and learning basic microscopy techniques with Dr Liz Tully, Dr Anika Mostaert, Conleth Mullen and Padraig Keane from the UCD Conway Nanoscale Function Group led by Professor Suzi Jarvis.
“We specifically looked at a number of everyday household items such as sugar, detergent and flour to identify the varying structural features of these items, on a microscopic scale,” explained Dr Liz Tully. “We also examined onion cells and human hair samples as well as a variety of pre-prepared slides of insect and plant specimens.”
“This was my first time to ever look down a microscope,” said Marcus Noble, a primary school student from St Patrick’s in Dalkey.
Solar-powered puppies, planes and hydrogen cars captured the imagination of visitors both young and old at the demonstration by the SFI-funded Solar Energy Conversion Strategic Research Cluster, in which Conway Fellows including Professor JPG Malthouse and Dr Chandralal Hewage are involved. Dr Sharon Davin together with Cluster Engineering PhD students Laura Tobin and Amidou Dembele explained to visitors the technology behind harnessing the free energy of the sun to meet our energy needs.
Dr Davin noted that “Solar toys are a fun and interactive medium to translate both the technology and the importance of our research in the Solar Energy Cluster”.
The UCD-led Cluster comprises engineers, chemists and physicists from UCD, DCU and UL focused on solar energy conversion technologies. After listening to the Cluster team’s explanation of the science behind how the cars and solar cells worked, the students and their parents were invited to enter a draw for a Solar Portable Charger and Solar kits.
Dr Andrew Phillips from the UCD School of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and Conway Fellow, Dr Tadhg Ó’Cróinín from the UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science together with Ms Ciara O’Hanlon and Dr Orla Donoghue from the UCD Science Programme Office were inundated with visitors trying their hand at building models of molecules such as aspirin and caffeine.
“The molecular models give a tangible reality to chemical structures as opposed to abstract drawings of structures on paper,” said Ms Marian O’Gorman, a teacher from Coláiste Mhuire, Askeaton in Limerick.
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