Exploring STEAM with SMMI: Highlights from SOTSEF Science and Engineering Day
On Saturday, 16 March 2024, the SMMI joined in the fun at the SOTSEF Science and Engineering Day, an annual family-friendly event at the University of Southampton that invites people of all ages to explore and discover what the world of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) has to offer through interactive activities, workshops, tours and more.
The SMMI took over the foyer of the Boldrewood Towing Tank, where we had a range of educational craft activities for children, designed by the champions from our various special interest groups on the topics of: Coastal Communities, Digital Oceans, Maritime Decarbonisation, Nature-Based Ocean Solutions, and Ocean Justice.
From there visitors joined the Maritime Engineering group in the towing tank to learn about The Science and Engineering of Ships. From controlling remotely operated ship models in the tank, seeing autonomous vehicles in action, and getting their hands wet to learn about neutral buoyancy and boat design.
Over on Highfield Campus, the Palaeo research group from the School of Ocean and Earth Science had a great time telling people about how fossils can help us to understand evolution of the biosphere from reefs to mammoths, and how data-driven approaches like palaeoclimate modelling can help us understand the evolution and distribution of these ancient organisms.
The archeologists showcased their underwater (and other) technologies, with visitors getting a chance to handle real drones and drone flight simulators to survey a Scottish crannog (artificial island from the Neolithic) and learn how to direct a virtual geophysical survey of the loch. The Virtual Reality Medieval Southampton activity was also incredibly popular and highlighted the heritage of our maritime city.
The Intelligent and Resilient Ocean Engineering (IROE) team were also out in force highlighting the role of offshore engineering in supporting the energy transition. A range of hands-on activities allowed visitors to test different anchoring systems for floating wind turbines, discover the range of seabed deposits that offshore engineers encounter and learn how marine spatial planning informs where to put future offshore wind. Younger visitors got to get tactile with all sorts of seabed sediments on display.
With more than 5000 visitors attending Science and Engineering Day at the Southampton Science and Engineering Festival it was a busy, fun day!