Southampton Science and Engineering Day

The Science and Engineering Festival is an annual event supported by the UK Science Festivals Network and held by the University of Southampton to display the outstanding research and work which the University is involved in. The event takes place across the whole University, stretching from Avenue Campus, Highfield Campus up to Boldrewood Campus. Faculties, research groups, academics and students alike all participate displaying their work to the public. It was estimated that over 9000 people visited the festival. Last year the festival was held on the 18th March and CDT-SIS and ICER were proud to be a part of it! The exhibit was based up at the state of the art Boldrewood Campus , which during the working week houses Lloyd’s Register’s Global Technology Centre. The exhibit highlighted the effect on river ecosystems of the reintroduction of the Eurasian Beaver to the UK, anthropogenic barriers to migration and engineering tactics being employed including fish passes and behavioural deterrents systems targetting migratory fish species. There was a fantastic turn out to the exhibit with many fascinated adults and children alike meeting and talking to the students and discussing the work on display. We also had the reappearance of the fabulous colour in your own beaver! Which always goes down a storm with the younger audience visiting the exhibits. The Science and Engineering Festival was a fantastic success , not only did it highlight the importance of our research to over 9000 members of the public, it also was a fantastic opportunity for students to practice presenting their research to a wider audience and to gain confidence in talking to large groups of people. These are all skills that will come in handy during the course of a PhD and future careers.