Community enjoys science at '˜Future Fest'

The event, which was run by the University’s Outreach and Engagement Team, attracted more than 900 visitors who experienced a wide variety of fun, interactive science displays and activities appropriate for all ages.

In four zones – Space, Technology, Creative and Transport - highlights included an indoor planetarium, stop motion animation, robots and mechanical hands, green power, making elephant toothpaste, clouds in a cup, bottle rockets, building an operational torch, a science lab and a show from the Royal Institution on energy.

Lesley-Anne Neville, head of Outreach and College Engagement at the University of Chichester, said: “Our thanks go to everyone who came to our Community Future Fest day and who helped to make it such a huge success. We were delighted by the response we received on the day and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun!”

Community Future Fest was especially important this year because it took place next door to the University’s new £35m Tech Park, due to open in the autumn of this year.

The University of Chichester has developed its STEM outreach programme in support of its landmark Tech Park. For engineering, the space will combine purpose-built, state-of-the-art workshops, laboratories and equipment with an innovative approach to engineering learning which takes on board input from the commercial sector – designed to produce well-rounded, creative engineers the meet current and future requirements of industry and beyond. For digital technology, this is an opportunity for the University to build on its reputation in the world of film, animation, special effects, gaming and supporting skills such as screenplay and score writing.

Excitingly, the Engineering and Digital Technology Park will bring together skills and expertise across both areas to create some ‘STEAM’ – Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics – with productive opportunities for regional businesses and their employees to get involved.