Science Week events underway in Westmeath
Science Week is currently underway and continues until this Sunday, November 17.
It is coordinated by Science Foundation Ireland and aims to raise awareness of the relevance of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) in our lives.
The theme is 'Exploring the XTRA-Ordinary’ and there are a number of Science Week events in the Midlands.
This evening (Wednesday) a lecture exploring the extraordinary world of sports nutrition will be given by Ruth Kilcawley, a leading sports performance nutritionist.
Her talk - entitled ‘Running on Empty’ - is open to the general public and sports clubs and will run from 7–8pm at C1164, Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT).
Throughout Science Week the AIT Photographic and Visual Art Society have a science-themed exhibition of their work displayed throughout the AIT campus. This exhibition is open to the general public daily from 9am to 7pm.
The Regional Finals of the ISTA Senior Science Quiz is now an annual event. It takes place this year on Thursday, November 14, in AIT at 7.30 pm.
Leaving Cert students from all over the Midlands will engage in a battle of wits as they seek to display their knowledge of science.
This Friday, November 15, Athlone Little Theatre presents an evening of 'Drug Discovery and Maths Busking’ with Professor Luke O’Neill and the award-winning Maths Buskers, hosted by Jonathan McCrea of Newstalk. The event is free, but pre-booking is necessary.
There are also Maths Busking shows for secondary schools in St Mary's Hall, Athlone, from 10am-4pm tomorrow (Thursday).
These shows combine maths, comedy and tricks aimed at making the subject of maths entertaining.
Following Science Week, there will be a public lecture and discussion on 'Nuclear Energy for Ireland? Fact & Fiction’ in AIT on Wednesday, November 20.
The discussion will be led by Dr. David Grimes, Oxford Science writer, Denis Duff, Mechanical Engineer and Professor Philip Walton, Emeritus Professor, NUIG.
Information about all of these events, and more, can be obtained from the Science Week website at: http://www.scienceweek.ie/events/find-events.html