Interact with Leading Kiwi Scientists at Science Street Fair

Interact with Leading Kiwi Scientists at the MOTAT Science Street Fair

Experience the science behind glowing bugs, robots and the universe with the MOTAT Science Street Fair!

Bring the entire family down to the Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) on Sunday 6 April from 10am until 4pm to view an array of interactive science exhibits thanks to the New Zealand Association of Scientists. “This inaugural event shows MOTAT’s commitment to providing a hands-on learning experience for young Kiwis, allowing them to interact with Kiwi scientists who are innovators and leaders in their field” says MOTAT CEO Michael Frawley.

“Kids are naturally inquisitive and with the variety of exhibits planned, it will allow them to touch the exhibits and ask questions to gain a valuable understanding of the science behind how these items work; from glowing bugs and whales right through to lasers and space.”

Visitors will have the opportunity to meet and interact some of New Zealand’s leading scientists including Dr Michelle Dickinson (aka Nanogirl), Dr Siouxsie Wiles, winner of the 2013 Prime Ministers Science Communication Award and members of the Photon Factory research team directed by Associate Professor Cather Simpson who was recently awarded the 2013 National Tertiary Teaching Excellence Award by Ako Aotearoa. “We are very excited to be hosting such high calibre scientists. They are all very passionate about science and have fantastic knowledge to share” says Mr Frawley.

Dr Siouxsie Wiles will be displaying a glow-in-the-dark 3D printed squid, which was a developed in collaboration with artist Rebecca Klee for last year’s Art in the Dark Light Festival. Dr Wiles is a well-known media commentator and in collaboration with graphic artist Luke Harris, has made a popular series of short animations describing nature’s amazing glowing creatures.

Dr Michelle Dickinson is a Senior Lecturer at The University of Auckland and runs New Zealand’s only Nanomechanical Testing Research Laboratory. In the laboratory she works with a team engineers who breaks very small (nanoscale) and very big (macroscale) things to try and figure out how size can affect how something behaves.

Mr Frawley says “be prepared to see some fascinating hands-on science exhibits and gain some great insight into the science.” Along with several scientists from the University of Auckland, the following organisations will be attending: Kiwi Space Foundation; Core Education; MindKits; MindLab; Stardome; and the New Zealand Institute of Language, Brain and Behaviour (NZILBB).

For more information about MOTAT and our exhibitions, please visit the website: www.motat.org.nz or see MOTAT’s Facebook Page.

ENDS

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