Comedian Dara Ó Briain with local Galway students looking forward to the festival. Image: Andrew Downes/Xposure.ie
Galway Science and Technology Festival will mark its 20th year with a great line-up of events for all the family to enjoy.
Two weeks of educational events will kick off in Galway city and county from November 13 to celebrate the start of Science Week.
This will culminate in a massive family day of STEM demonstrations, workshops and interactive exhibitions at NUI Galway on 26 November.
Exposing young people to the wonders of science
Comedian and science buff Dara Ó Briain met local students in the lead-up to the festival. Having studied maths and theoretical physics at university, he was impressed with the line-up of events and hoped it would spark an interest in STEM for those who take part.
He said: “If only there had been events like the Galway Science and Technology Festival back in my childhood, they are fantastic. They expose children to the wonders and intrigue of science, engineering and technology through practical, accessible and entertaining experiences.
“It broadens their spectrum of curiosity and shows them a myriad of potentially exciting careers they could follow, which could lead to conversations like: ‘Daddy, I want to be an astronaut.’”
Events will take place at NUI Galway, GMIT, Brigit’s Garden and Atlantaquaria as well as schools all over the city and wider county. There will be an impressive 150 free events as part of the festival, which is mainly sponsored by Medtronic, Science Foundation Ireland and third-level institutions.
Galway is a hub for science and tech
Paul Mee, chair of the festival, said: “Galway has seen many positive developments over the 20 years, during which it has developed a global reputation as a major global medtech hub, and we are delighted that local companies like Medtronic, Boston Scientific, Creganna/TE Connectivity and Aerogen play a major role in supporting our festival.”
“Medtronic is delighted to partner with the Galway Science and Technology Festival as the main sponsor for the 16th year running. Our partnership with the festival is one of collaboration where our energies focus on engaging the young scientists and engineers of the future and providing them with an insight into working with a leading medical device company,” said Ronan Rogers, new product development director at Medtronic Parkmore.
Events will range from learning what it’s like to be a game developer, to building robots and kitchen chemistry demos.
All events are free of charge, and more information on what is sure to be an action-packed fortnight can be found here.
