The Harwell Experience  

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What better way to get people enthused about science than to hold a festival of science and innovation? From 8-11 July 2015, during the International Year of Light, the Harwell Campus in Oxfordshire did just that, and welcomed close to 18,000 visitors during a four-day celebration of inspirational science, technology and engineering. 

The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), the Diamond Light Source and the Harwell Campus Partners decided to open the doors to some of the world’s most spectacular and powerful science facilities for the first time in 15 years. This was a rare opportunity for the visitors to see the breadth of science and engineering that public investment pays for at Harwell, as well understanding a little of why this work is so important and to understand the impact this science has on their own lives.

HRH the Duke of York is Patron of both the International Year of Light and the Harwell Campus so it was very fitting that he chose to visit on the first day of the science festival. It started with a day of visits by school students and their teachers who were taking the opportunity to see what goes on in some of these national science facilities.   The Duke met with some of the students as well as young graduates and apprentices who work on the site. As a pilot, he is very keen on nurturing skills in engineering and said, “There are scientists doing all sorts of wonderful things, but they couldn’t do them without the engineers to make it happen.  What I’m interested in is trying to encourage that coincidence of activity where young people are inspired to think not only of science but also of engineering, as tools with which they can actually do something constructive.”
HRH the Duke of York views the Incredible Power of Light Exhibition   

More than 5000 young people came to the public day on Saturday 11 July, the busiest day of all. It proved a perfect opportunity for the research staff at the Harwell Campus to inspire and encourage them to consider taking up subjects that will enable them to become our next generation of scientists, engineers and technicians. More importantly it allowed them to explain the many routes to a career in science, such as university studies or becoming an apprentice at one of the UK’s science campuses.
“Our open days are a great opportunity to inspire young people who may not even have considered a career in science and engineering,” said Dr Andrew Taylor, STFC’s Executive Director of the National Laboratories. 
“‘The cutting edge research we do here at Harwell depends on the skills of the outstanding engineers and technicians, who build, maintain and operate our unique facilities.  There is a great opportunity for young people to join us and be trained through our apprenticeship scheme in electrical, electronic and mechanical engineering.” 
The ‘Harwell Experience‘ attracted thousands from all over the UK and from much further afield - among them, people from as far away as Canada and New Zealand, who were visiting the UK and took the opportunity to take a peek behind the scenes of this exciting science campus.
Particularly popular areas of the Harwell site included the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, which is used for a huge variety of science, from designing new medicines to testing materials used in aircraft; and the Diamond Light Source with its iconic silver ring that houses the UK’s Synchrotron. These facilities each received more than 4,000 visitors on the public day.