Cutting Edge Science at Harwell Open Day
Last Saturday was Harwell Open Day! The UK’s leading science and innovation campus opened up its doors to the public, showcasing first-hand pioneering research and the scientists and technicians behind it to educate the next generation.
For us here at Minesat, it was a fantastic chance to look inside the UK’s gateway to space as Harwell serves as the Hub for space science research and applied commercial solutions including the ESA (European Space Agency), RAL (space research/tech/facilities) and Satellite Applications Catapult (supporting commercial application) and more. We’ve covered some innovations before such as CIRIA’s application of satellite remote sensing for major infrastructure and others are coming soon - such as the Aeolus satellite for weather and climate forecasting.
We had a wander around the campus so let’s delve into what we saw and some of our key takeaways.
Minesat in Space. Credit: Valeria Boesso (C) 2024
At the first exhibition tent we encountered AECOM that is enabling Harwell to design and develop the required exceptional infrastructures, such as the Rosalind Franklin Institute and its laboratory environment. The Institute houses some of the world’s most sensitive research equipment and has supported the development of non-bodies to combat SARS-CoV-2 and chemistry proteins research to improve how drugs are delivered in medicine.
We also met great charities very close to the Minesat ethos of facilitating access to tech knowledge. Digit<all> helps kids learn coding in a fun and interactive way both at school, home school or other environments more conducive for SEN/neuro-divergent kids.
Next up was the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source facility. This is part of the global scientific infrastructure that allows scientists from all over the world to study materials at the sub-atomic level, from engineering to clean energy and quantum computing. In Quantum for example, research is developing superconductors that could support reduced waste in communication systems. In Energy & Environmental Science it is about developing the next generation of batteries that could support the energy transition with greater global access at reduced costs for solar cells/hydrogen/fuel cells or CO2 as a ‘green solvent’, replacing petrochemical solvents, supporting carbon re-use and potentially reducing our reliance on fossil fuels even further. Finally, in Life Science it is about helping research with new antibiotics, cancer detection and drug delivery. There were not many case studies to illustrate the actual impact the research across these fields is having and given the educational aim of the day is a little surprising - public communication was very much focused on the more technical aspects of physics rather than the more colloquial applications. We had to do a little more research ourselves to understand the significance, yet it certainly stimulated the conversation!
ESA Satellite Missions Aeolus and SMOS over Earth. Credit (Photo, Artwork): Valeria Boesso (C) 2024
It was fantastic to experience the facilities in person though and great to see the vast array of educational activities for children around sounds, light and robotics that can hopefully encourage the next generation take up. Our highlights were:
o Particle Accelerator ‘Music’: how do you see music? Well here songs were played, reminding us of classic early computer game style, with the electrical field ‘dancing’ to the beat. Very engaging and we were tempted to conduct a little experiment myself on how genres differ!
o AI on autonomous vehicles: The latest is using dynamic image capture and recognition to map routes, thereby increasing the likelihood of dynamic detection thereby improving emergency actions and reducing collision risk.
o Rubik Cube Robot: Great conversation with the developers who have developed a robot to challenge you to complete a Rubik’s cube faster. We didn’t make the attempt as we left that to kids who were obviously far more skilled! Programmed with knowledge from Rubik solves across the world, it uses a camera to detect colour and then procedural steps to turn and twist using a cradle with its arms. Still early days with improvements to be made – we suggested a LiDAR camera instead (3D model could improve issues with colour detection?) and look forward to future iterations.
We then travelled to the Satellite Applications Catapult. Limited scope for us going on here as it had an engineering focus, yet lots of engaging activities for kids so it was valuable from that angle. It would have been useful to see more of the application of space research, of which we know and have seen, and how it is supporting real world challenges, whether crop detection, carbon mapping or flood risk.
Our final stop was at the ESA where we saw a little more about remote sensing – a nerd favourite of mine were the satellite scaled models and the child in me loved the ginormous astronaut welcoming us to the building. Inside there was a short display of ESA environmental monitoring for climate from heat to wind speeds, ozone, carbon, ice and forests. Through a couple of interactive tools, it was possible to explore the globe view and deep dive in specific areas. Good for the interaction, though maybe bringing a storytelling element about climate change would have strengthened a message for the next generation.
Inside the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source. Credit (Photo, Artwork): Valeria Boesso (C) 2024
Speaking about impacts and climate, we had an interesting encounter on how fashion is playing its part with the catwalk display by Tammam – a company challenging the way we produce and buy fashion - who focus on true sustainability and presenting an alternative to hyper-consumption. Their collaboration with ESA is long standing and a great example of how sustainability and a just future rely on diverse and ‘not run of the mill’ cross-industry and sector partnerships.
We then spoke to Astroscale about space debris and how their technology and services are supporting programmes with Space Agencies to remove and reduce the amount in orbit. They employ two systems: one pushing deprecated satellites to lower orbits, while the other sending debris back to earth to burn up. Quite topical as with recent disasters of space debris hitting houses in Florida (article here) and developments by the ESA on building infrastructure with meteorite dust (article here) there is much conversation on the foundational role of debris to support a circular economy in space and reduce operational costs, improve exploration and mitigate disasters.
Worth the experience at Harwell and would welcome this every year! If you have kids there is a lot on offer in terms of activities, interactivity and entertainment. From an education perspective it would have been great to see more of the actual applications, particularly with the key challenges and one that spells out the real world advantages the research is bringing to the world, this especially given the cost involved in terms of resources. One example is where Harwell has been pushing to reduce their environmental impact with new systems for water cooling, solar panels to reduce grid usage and helium circular processing to mitigate the depletion of resources. Therefore, could it be an imperative to quantify environmental impacts versus environmental gains? Do we offset the social investment? We do not have an answer and maybe there is not an easy one, yet it would be a great educative opportunity to frame a very actual problem in climate terms and initiate the debate critically minded. Good for all ages!
Final thought? It was inspiring - this is the first time in 8 years they have opened their doors to the public. It would be fantastic if it became a regular event, with a format that engages with everyone at all ages and importantly embeds some of the key societal challenges in what the research is trying to solve for and more importantly, why.
