The Institute of Solid State Physics – BAS and Science Me Up organized a science and technology fair on June 7 at the Scientific Complex 2 of BAS. The event attracted the attention of more than 1500 visitors – schoolchildren, parents, students, teachers, researchers and friends. They participated in lectures, lab visits and pupil hands-on workshops.
The organizers of the event – Assoc. Prof. Ekaterina Iordanova, Director of the Institute of Solid State Physics at BAS, and Mr. Yavor Kiryakov, Manager of Science Me Up, congratulated the participants of the Science Fair.
Researchers from the Institute of Solid State Physics, the Institute of Astronomy with the National Astronomical Observatory and the Central Laboratory for Solar Energy and New Energy Sources at BAS presented their work to science and technology enthusiasts.
Visitors participated in demonstrations of dozens of experiments located outdoors in the park of the complex – observation of the sun through a professional telescope at the time of maximum activity, a visit to the Demonstration Pavilion – a model of the “building of the future”. In the laboratories of the Institute of Solid State Physics, they saw how scientists work on projects with relevance for a highly efficient and environmentally friendly economy.
Scientists told how the discovery of the photoelectric state of matter in the early twentieth century found application and through the Xerox machine had been part of our everyday life and how a scientific idea of the discovery of a copper bromide vapour laser had become a successful innovation.
In a lecture panel, researchers from the Academy led the most curious on a journey from the world of deep space to the microworld of matter and, as responsible guests of planet Earth, told them about the techniques and technologies they had developed to protect its purity.
Schoolchildren from grades 1 to 9 participated in themed hands-on workshops that included faculty, students, and pupils with experience in science and engineering. Each workshop aimed to engage children through experience, play and creativity. In one of the Institute’s main academic halls, young Science Me Up course participants presented their projects to parents, friends and the Fair audience.