Science Alive! is a celebration of all things science and is making its way to Geelong for the first time on the 25th-26th of May! The Brainary will be attending with our robot friends and we can’t wait to share them with everyone on the day. We are so excited to be apart of Science Alive! that we decided to get the inside scoop from organiser Brian Haddy about the event and his own passion for science and the future of STEM!
Why have you chosen to run Science Alive! in Geelong this year?
The company building Australia’s next generation submarines, the Naval Group, provided some seed funding to run a Science Alive! event in Victoria (I have been running them in South Australia for 13 years on behalf of the Adelaide Showground). Brighter, promoting natural gas, also came on board together with local sponsors Viva Energy and Deakin University and the national Defence Science and Technology organization. The Melbourne event calendar is fairly crowded so when looking at possible options of regional Victorian cities we chose Geelong due to the Council’s vision of a ‘Clever and Creative Future’ which we thought went well with a hands-on science event.
What is your background and how did you get involved with Science Alive!?
Although I have formal qualifications in Economics and Population Health my real love is in managing large scale community events. I proposed the idea of a large hands-on science event to the National Science Week Committee in Adelaide back in 2006 and since that time Science Alive! has grown to the extent that it now attracts 30,000 visitors in Science Week and has satellite events in outer suburban and regional South Australia at other times during each year.
What are you most looking forward to at this year’s event?
The Geelong event has some very unique features never before seen at a Science Alive! event. The Army Drone Racing Team is expected to be a huge hit together with the Virtual Reality experiences offered by a number of organizations including OzGrav that will offer an amazing journey through our universe. Dr Who fans will also be delighted that several Daleks will be at the event and of course the NAO humanoid robots on The Brainary stand will be hugely popular.
What do you think the future holds for our students?
Many of the jobs of the future are yet to be created or even visualized – but it is certain that most will require a higher degree of scientific competency than the less skilled jobs they will replace. So those students who study science at school will be well placed to take advantage of emerging employment opportunities.
Who is your favourite scientist and why?
Rob Morrison and Deane Hutton from the Curiosity Show are my favourites due to their ability to explain complex scientific concepts to those without a formal science background such as myself. And guess what? They will be at Science Alive! Geelong, presenting their Illusions Show on both of the event’s public days – 25th & 26th May.
You can purchase tickets and find more information on the Science Alive! website.
Contact The Brainary for more information on this great STEM event.
