Earlier this month we visited the  BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition held at RDS in Dublin. This was a truly encouraging sight for the future. It’s been reported that fewer and fewer children want to grow up and partake in the sciences but this display was quite encouraging. Furthermore, with the diverse and large crowd, it was clear to see that, in recent times, being smart is cool, rather than the age old tendency to hide one’s light under a bushel (which is evident in films such as ‘Revenge of the Nerds’)…

An added bonus was an appearance from the modern legend that is Chris Hadfield, the man behind the recent cover of ‘Space Oddity’ by ‘David Bowie’.

The queues to have just the briefest of meetings with him were outstanding, even more so since the temperature was near the freezing mark. However one of our own, in the form of May, braved both the cold and the queue, for over two hours, to meet him.. And the verdict?.. Worth it. Though this is clearly evident in the starstruck expression in the picture below.

The event itself was one in which school children participated in and thus, primarily, it also catered for them. However it also appealed to all age groups as there were interactive games aplenty, experiments galore and tons of volunteers on hand, ready to answer any, relevant, questions thrown at them. In all a great family day out was on offer so, if any of you out there want to get your kids, your siblings or even nieces and nephews interested in science this is a really great way to show them the possibilities, though, unfortunately, that won’t be until next year.

In all, it’s a difficult event to put into words. It targets hopes, aspirations and the wonder of children. It encourages those with ambitions to strive towards them and not try to dumb themselves for others. So, yeah… From here, I’ll just let the pictures do the talking and we hope to see you all there next year!