Discover Materials Inspires Crowds at Swansea Science Festival 2024

A regular October half-term fixture, this year’s Swansea Science Festival provided a fantastic opportunity for Discover Materials to join forces with the local Materials Science and Engineering department.

Over the weekend, more than 4,900 visitors came through the doors at Swansea’s National Waterfront Museum. Attendees interacted with the wide range of stands in the free exhibition hall and attend a variety of science themed shows and performances.

The Discover Materials stand showcased a range of fun, interactive science activities, including microscopy, spin coating art, a demonstration of heat storage materials and equipment from the Discover Materials busking box including smart, and hydrophobic materials. Highlights for the young people and their families were the thermochromic sheets, where visitors could see how special smart materials reacted to the heat of their hands, the microscopes which allowed people to see the hidden secrets of everyday objects and new heat storage materials, where participants learnt first-hand about how chemical reactions can store heat from local industry.

The event had a great atmosphere, reinforced by excellent feedback from those who visited. From those who completed the feedback survey, over 75% gave this year’s festival a 5* rating. A big thank you to all the volunteers from Discover Materials, Swansea University’s Faculty of Science and Engineering, SUSTAIN Steel, SPECIFIC IKC, ATiP and the Materials and Manufacturing Academy for making the stand at this event such a great success. We’re looking forward to next year already!