On 20 & 21 February QISTCDT students from cohort 2 took part in the ‘Festival of Tomorrow’, a UKRI sponsored outreach event aimed at the general public, in particular young people, to find out about current science and innovation.
On the stand the students demonstrated how photonic chips are used to guide light around specific paths with a large-scale puzzle for children to solve. The audience were intrigued by the scale of the photonic chips we presented and how these chips can be a platform to develop quantum technologies.
Another demonstration featured a spinning curved platform with an adjustable speed, where participants had to try and balance a ping pong ball in the centre for the longest time possible. This demonstrates the fine-tuning required to find a stable potential for ion traps – another prevalent platform for quantum technologies. The leaderboard added an exciting element of competition, with the winner achieving over 5 minutes!
Their stand gained a lot of interest, and the students did a fabulous job answering all the questions. Everyone seemed to enjoy their outreach experience a lot as well as imparting a lot of knowledge to the receptive public.