BU Research Blog

Bestival

So after a little time to recover from the late nights of last weekend, I can safely say that Bestival was a great success!

The atmosphere was electric, which gave us the perfect opportunity to showcase some of BU’s resea  rch. The activities that we bought held a very high level of interactivity which allowed us to fully engage with our audience.

We bought two activities to Bestival, the T-wall reaction board and the Jump Mat. The T-wall tested skills such as reaction times and hand eye coordination. Then the jump mat tested a participant’s stationary jumping power. The purpose was to allow the public to test themselves against some of the UK’s most elite athletes such Jessica Ennis and Lewis Hamilton.

These two pieces of kit were brilliant for public engagement as it allowed people to test themselves as an individual, as well as giving them the opportunity to compete against their friends. This added level of competition encouraged hundreds of people come and test their abilities, as well as giving them the chance to win some highly sought after BU merchandise.

There were many other activities at the science tent which helped to showcase research happening at other universities such as Southampton and Reading. One Activity that was successful at catching the public’s attention was a specially modified telescope which allowed you to examine the sun. Through this telescope you could examine it in great detail, with even being able to see solar flares!

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