Exciting new venue thrilled to take science to the people
HERE’S a sneak preview of what you can expect to see inside the brand new exhibition venue about to open up in the heart of Swansea city centre.
The venue aims to bring science to life and visitors young and old can look forward to seeing exhibits on the themes of ‘movement and motion’ and Swansea University’s response to the coronavirus pandemic
Swansea University’s Oriel Science is set to officially open the doors of its new venue this Saturday, having taken over the old base of Happy Home Furnishers at 21-22 Castle Street, which had been occupied by the furniture store for 27 years.
Entry to the venue is free and will feature two exhibitions entitled ‘Movement and Motion’ and ‘Swansea University’s response to Covid-19.’
It will be open from 10am until 4pm on weekends and during school holidays and promises to “help visitors of all ages discover the wonders of the world-class research that takes place at Swansea University”.
In ‘Movement and Motion,’ visitors can see how glaciers are surging in the Arctic, learn how particles can be levitated with ultrasonic speakers, and measure their arms’ length against the wingspan of a condor.
The Swansea University race car simulator will once again be available for all to test their skills on the virtual track, as well as the hydrogen bike and the hydrogen-fuelled Rasa car produced by Welsh zeroemission vehicle manufacturer Riversimple.
Exhibits and presentations in ‘Swansea University’s response to Covid19’ show the huge extent to which the university’s students and research staff have helped the local community and frontline workers respond to the pandemic.
Exhibits include 3D printed visors, a ventilator, and paintings representing the dreams of key workers during the Covid19 lockdown.
The new venue will build on the success of Oriel Science’s pop-up venue on Princess Way which welcomed almost 16,000 visitors and more than 1,000 children during its 100 opening days in 2016-17.
The theme of that exhibition was ‘Time,’ and exhibits included a mockup of the Large Hadron Collider, and a Back to the Future-themed Delorean sports car to highlight research into curved space-time.
Director of Oriel Science, Professor Chris Allton, said: “It is truly wonderful to open our new city centre venue to showcase the university’s research to people living in and around Swansea.
“Oriel Science uses this amazing research, packaged into fun and interactive exhibits, to inspire the younger generation so that they can become our future engineers, doctors, technologists and innovators.”
Pro-vice chancellor at Swansea University, Professor Martin Stringer, added: “It is great to welcome the opening of Oriel Science’s new city centre venue. This is an important event, especially in this most difficult of years.
“The university has, in many ways, been at the forefront of work to tackle the social and medical impacts of Covid-19, as will be shown in the exhibition, but more than that, the opening of this venue demonstrates a commitment to Swansea, and particularly to the next generation of budding scientists in the Swansea region that looks beyond Covid-19 and towards the future.”