Over 90,000 people are expected to attend events across the country during Science Week Ireland 2008, which starts on Sunday 9 November and runs until Sunday 16 November.
Science Week Ireland is organised by Discover Science & Engineering, the Government’s programme for science awareness and promotion. Over 450 events are planned across the country during the week with over 18,000 visitors expected to visit science exhibits and workshops in Galway alone while in Cork over 5,000 people are expected to visit the Discovery 2008 event at Cork City Hall.
As part of Science Week Ireland 2008, Discover Science & Engineering has organised a series of free lectures open to the public in the Science Gallery, Trinity College Dublin. The Science Week Lecture Series, which is already booked out, will include Stephen Attenborough from Virgin Galactic, the world’s first space tourism agency; Patrick Collison, one of the Limerick teenagers who built ‘Auctomatic’, an Internet company which was subsequently sold for millions of dollars; Gerry Johnston, Irish special effects guru who worked on films such as Saving Private Ryan and Braveheart; Professor Aubrey Manning, a prominent zoologist; and Dr Cynthia Breazeal, a robotics expert from MIT.
Discovery 2008, Cork’s Interactive Science Exhibition, runs in City Hall again this year from 16-20 November. Young and old will enjoy experimenting with slime, creating electronic circuits and even playing hands-free basketball at the Family Day on Sunday 16 November.
The highlight for 2008 will be the unveiling of Cork’s own portable planetarium, recently acquired by Blackrock Castle Observatory.
The Galway Science & Technology Festival, now in its eleventh year will run from 10th – 23rd November. Among the main highlights are the First Lego National Championships on Saturday 22nd November and the festival exhibition on Sunday 23rd November in the Galway Bay Hotel and Leisureland.
Leo Enright, Chairman, Discover Science & Engineering, said, “Science Week Ireland 2008 is set to be the biggest to date both in terms of the number of events and participants. The activities, over the course of the week, will certainly demonstrate the impact science, engineering and technology has on everyday life. We must have suitably qualified people to drive a knowledge based economy. Creating awareness of the career opportunities in science, engineering and technology and demonstrating the varied career options available to graduates will help to ensure that we have the availability of suitably qualified graduates.”
For more on Science Week 2008 visit www.scienceweek.ie
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