University launches first SciFest

The University of Wolverhampton is hosting its first ever SciFest, a celebration of science and technology.

The free week-long event in June has been created to enable school pupils from the West Midlands to discover all areas of science and technology.

The festival will culminate in a Public Day on Saturday, 30 June 2012 to coincide with the Olympic torch and Blue Peter being in Wolverhampton.

There will also be a series of inventive sessions from 26 - 29 June 2012 for primary, GCSE and A-Level students, delivered by the University’s leading experts.

The interactive activities have been developed especially for the different year groups and include subjects such as lie detection, car design, midwifery, mathematics and pharmacy.

Professor John Darling, Dean of the School of Applied Sciences, said: “We wanted to create an event that would celebrate science and technology and encourage pupils of all ages to get involved in the magic of science.

“There has been a phenomenal response and some of the school days are fully booked. We’re really excited that the event is being so well supported, with schools from across the West Midlands signing up to a range of imaginative and stimulating events.

“We’re also looking forward to welcoming the local community into the University on 30 June so that they can experience some of the exciting science and technology taking place in Wolverhampton.”

The Public Day at the Wolverhampton City Campus from 10am to 4pm is open to members of the public and will include the Pyromania Show by stunt scientist Dr Bunhead, from Sky One’s Brainiac programme, a journey through our solar system with Birmingham Science Museum’s mobile planetarium and fitness tests with Olympic-inspired activities with our classroom medics.

The week of activities kicks off with a GCSE Day on Tuesday, 26 June 2012, bringing the classroom to life with crime scene investigations and eye witness testimonies.

Wednesday, 27 June 2012 will be A-Level Science Day packed full of experiments and exploratory investigations.

This will be followed by A-level Technology Day on Thursday, 28 June 2012 and highlights include understanding how a games engine works and 3D modeling in our VR.

The school days conclude with our Primary Day on Friday, 29 June 2012, pupils will journey across science and technology meeting the Big Bad Bug, tracking wild animals and building a life size body puzzle.

The Public Day is free but booking is required for some shows and workshops. For more information, visit www.wlv.ac.uk/scifest

ENDS

Picture: Dr Bunhead launches SciFest at the University of Wolverhampton

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