CubeSat Creators
Lead Research Organisation:
Edinburgh International Science Festival
Department Name: Science
Abstract
Edinburgh Science Foundation (ESF) creates interactive and immersive experiences to engage people in science and technology so that participants better understand their value and role they play in their lives and the opportunities they present. This project focuses on an activity about mini satellites that conduct space research.
We want to redevelop our CubeSat Creators activity with expert input from STFC for delivery at two Edinburgh Science events - Edinburgh Science Festival and Careers Hive - to inspire around 2,500 children (age 8-13) with the incredible astronomy technology being created and used in Scotland, and the broad career opportunities on their doorstep.
We want to work with STFC to achieve high-quality public engagement in CubeSat technology, an area of active work at the UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC) in Edinburgh. There will be opportunities for UK ATC staff to engage directly with the public and to promote awareness of their work. The workshop will be available for years to come so it can benefit children beyond the project timeframe.
CubeSats are an excellent example of space becoming more accessible; with the UK ATC nearby and new space start-ups appearing, there are more opportunities than ever to follow a career working in the space industry. These new opportunities are not limited to one topic or skill set but a great chance for a range of people to come into the space industry at every level.
Without redevelopment and funding to deliver, we will not be able to include this activity in our events.
We want to redevelop our CubeSat Creators activity with expert input from STFC for delivery at two Edinburgh Science events - Edinburgh Science Festival and Careers Hive - to inspire around 2,500 children (age 8-13) with the incredible astronomy technology being created and used in Scotland, and the broad career opportunities on their doorstep.
We want to work with STFC to achieve high-quality public engagement in CubeSat technology, an area of active work at the UK Astronomy Technology Centre (UK ATC) in Edinburgh. There will be opportunities for UK ATC staff to engage directly with the public and to promote awareness of their work. The workshop will be available for years to come so it can benefit children beyond the project timeframe.
CubeSats are an excellent example of space becoming more accessible; with the UK ATC nearby and new space start-ups appearing, there are more opportunities than ever to follow a career working in the space industry. These new opportunities are not limited to one topic or skill set but a great chance for a range of people to come into the space industry at every level.
Without redevelopment and funding to deliver, we will not be able to include this activity in our events.
Planned Impact
We will produce a final report on the learning and outcomes of the project which we will share with STFC. We would like to engage UK ATC's networks, and can promote resources and information on our website, in our Annual Review and newsletter, in updates to the external Edinburgh Festivals group, and in press/on social media.
Our in-house marketing team will promote the activity (and any resources) through our media channels.
In 2019 we had significant engagement with Careers Hive through our social media channels, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. We used #careershive to keep track of schools, volunteers, community groups and members of the public that engaged with the event. Many of the schools that attended engaged with this hashtag and shared their experiences of the event. Our Tweets about Careers Hive got a total of 471 engagements and there were 20 other tweets about the event. Our LinkedIn posts got 1,504 impressions and our Facebook posts reached a total of 10.5k and 500 engagements.
For the Edinburgh Science Festival, we use #EdSciFest. We had 60k website visits in 2019, 216k Facebook impressions, 9k engagements and 751k impressions on Twitter, 492 online articles, 168 print articles (18.4m circulation), 50 radio features (29.5m listeners), 5 TV features (756k viewers).
Our in-house marketing team will promote the activity (and any resources) through our media channels.
In 2019 we had significant engagement with Careers Hive through our social media channels, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. We used #careershive to keep track of schools, volunteers, community groups and members of the public that engaged with the event. Many of the schools that attended engaged with this hashtag and shared their experiences of the event. Our Tweets about Careers Hive got a total of 471 engagements and there were 20 other tweets about the event. Our LinkedIn posts got 1,504 impressions and our Facebook posts reached a total of 10.5k and 500 engagements.
For the Edinburgh Science Festival, we use #EdSciFest. We had 60k website visits in 2019, 216k Facebook impressions, 9k engagements and 751k impressions on Twitter, 492 online articles, 168 print articles (18.4m circulation), 50 radio features (29.5m listeners), 5 TV features (756k viewers).
| Description | Redeveloping CubeSat Creators with input from UK ATC |
| Organisation | UK Astronomy Technology Centre (ATC) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | With funding from STFC we redeveloped our CubeSat Creators activity. The workshop version was delivered at City Art Centre in April 2022 and a shorter, drop-in activity was presented at Careers Hive in November 2022. City Art Centre is one of the family programme venues during Edinburgh Science Festival, as we take over all five floors and pack it full of engaging, hands-on activities for families and children aged 3-12. The venue is also open for one day only for our partner and supporter organisations. We were happy to invite colleagues from UK Astronomy Technology Centre with their families and give the opportunity to try CubeSat Creators workshop. Held at National Museum of Scotland, Careers Hive is a free immersive careers event designed to give students between the ages of 11-14 (S1-S3) a new way to think about their futures. CubeSat Creators was one of the 16 activities at the STEM Exhibition held at Grand Gallery. These activities were run by volunteers from various organisations. As part of our partnership, we provided the volunteering opportunity for UK ATC staff to facilitate the delivery of CubeSat Creators at Careers Hive so that they can talk to young people about STEM careers and explain the work done at UK ATC. All volunteers were invited to our bespoke public engagement training, 'Communicating with Confidence', which is designed to support them to talk to young people (and the public) about their work and career paths. |
| Collaborator Contribution | We have worked with UK ATC to redevelop our CubeSat Creators activity so that it takes account of cutting-edge work being done by them. We have met with UK ATC and they kindly they took us through all the science of CubeSats and walked us through what they are working on. It was very beneficial to our Creative Team and helped them to redevelop the workshop to include most up-to-date details. Also, UK ATC has kindly provided with a sample of 3d printed mirror mesh and a non-polished mirror, which was used in the workshop. |
| Impact | We re-developed CubeSat Creators activity with UK ATC expertise, by incorporating real-life knowledge on up-to-date practices and equipment. It was delivered as a 45-minute workshop for public audience at City Art Centre April 2022, especially for designed to engage children aged 7-12. In addition, we delivered CubeSat Creators as a short, drop-in activity during Careers Hive for secondary school pupils aged 11-15, in November 2022. UK ATC provided an actual sample of 3D printed metal mesh and non-polished mirror, which was used at the workshop at City Art Centre. Following the advice from UK ATC, CubeSat Creators were placed in the Energy and Environment zone at the STEM Exhibition at Careers Hive. This allowed volunteers from these sectors to relate the activity to the work they do. We invited staff from UK ATC to volunteer at Careers Hive and 1 person was able to join us in November 2022. The volunteer also received a training from Edinburgh Science. We provided free tickets to UK ATC staff to join City Art Centre and try our activities, including CubeSat Creators. 12 people (adults and children) signed up to attend the event. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | CubeSat Creators at City Art Centre, Edinburgh Science Festival 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | We redeveloped CubeSat Creators, working in partnership with UKATC and delivered the workshop at City Art Centre for children aged 7-12. This workshop was delivered in 2019 for the first time and redeveloped for 2022 reiteration. Our aim was to inspire children with the incredible astronomy technology being created and used in Scotland and showcase the uses of satellites. Prior to the Edinburgh Science Festival (9-24 April 2022), the venue was open to local primary schools from deprived areas in Edinburgh. This programme of specially curated School Days gives disadvantaged pupils access to interactive science they may not otherwise have had the chance to experience. A total of 451 pupils attended from 4 local Edinburgh schools: St Francis RC Primary School, St Catherine's Primary School, St Ninian's RC Primary School and Murrayburn Primary School. Approximately 128 pupils were able to try CubeSat Creator workshop. Teachers feedback that it engaged pupils who do not normally engage, achieved the most learning, and was enjoyed the most by pupils. 1,028 children took part in the CubeSat Creators workshop at City Art Centre, when it was open to the public. Overall feedback from the Edinburgh Science Festival, indicates that 74% of adults agreed that the events shown their children how science is relevant to their life. From the feedback we collected at City Art Centre, parents and guardians felt that their children had fun but there were also learning outcomes which became clearer when travelling home and/or a few days later. In addition, a further 770 people visited City Art Centre during the Extravaganza - a special family day when City Art Centre is open for partner organisations. Approximately 150 children were able to enjoy CubeSat Creators. Also, the venue is open for one evening for adults only and was visited by 427 people, and we would estimate that approximately 100 adult had a chance to try CubeSat Creators. We trained five Science Communicators to deliver this activity. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | CubeSat Creators at National Museum of Scotland, Careers Hive 2022 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Schools |
| Results and Impact | n November 2022, we delivered CubeSat Creators at the Careers Hive event for secondary school pupils aged 11-15. The short, drop-in activity was placed at the Energy + Environment Zone at the STEM Exhibition, placed at the Grand Gallery of the National Museum of Scotland. The purpose of Careers Hive is to inspire pupils in secondary school about science, the range of employment opportunities in STEM industries and the possibilities that studying these subjects can have on their future career prospects. Over the five days, Careers Hive was visited by 2,146 pupils and their teachers. We welcomed 27 secondary schools from 11 Local Authorities in Scotland. 13 of these schools were from the 40% of the most deprived areas in Scotland (Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation Quintiles 1&2). We estimate that around 1,070 pupils were able to try the CubeSats. Careers Hive was also open to the public on Saturday 12 November. The event was visited by around 4,000 who were able to see the activity. We estimate that approximately 960 members of the public actually engaged with the activity. We invited UK ATC staff to facilitate the delivery of CubeSat Creators at Careers Hive so that they can talk to young people about STEM careers and explain the work done at UK ATC. One person from UK ATC was able to volunteer at the event. Other volunteers who were likely to run the activity at Careers Hive and interact with young people were early-career STEM professionals from a diverse range of industries, including engineering, sustainability & environment, renewable energy. Volunteers were invited to share their career experiences and real-world application of CubeSats that could be applied in their line of work. We wanted to increase young people's (and teachers') awareness of the broad range of STEM careers and how studying STEM subjects can support their future career. 95% of teachers felt that attendance at Careers Hive had increased pupils' understanding of the range of STEM careers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |