Techfest 2008

On Sunday (13th September) we visited Techfest 2008, an annual festival of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), which usually takes place in September at the Aberdeen Beach Ballroom and Leisure Centre. The idea behind the festival is to nurture interest in children and adults alike in STEM.

We started the day by visiting the stall 'Curious about Chemistry'. Here the children discovered the wonders of chemistry. One of the experiment was to create a rocket type lift-off using some commonly available items at home. This is how it is done. Pour some vinegar in a small cylindrical photo film holder, then put an antacid effervescent tablet and place the cap over the holder. Shake it a little and the pressure built within creates a lift off to about five meters. Children also learnt how to create slime in a lab.

At 'Catch the Wind' stall, we got to design and build a practical windmill. We managed to assemble a windmill which worked, but our design generated power which was less powerful (10 secs slower) than the top design.

We then moved on to 'Madlab', where Lalit learnt the secrets of soldering and making his own electronic gadget, a Lie Detector.

In the afternoon, we attended a show titled Professor Brainstorm's 'Feel the Force'. This show taught the children about Magnetic, Gravitational, Centrifugal and Compression forces.

We later got to participate in a 'Satrosphere Solar Sprint', where we had to build a Solar Buggy out of recycled materials. Lalit built a buggy which was faster than the one I built.

The children really enjoyed this year's Techfest. In the previous years they learnt about Bendy Bridges, making compost in a bottle, making a Fun Copter and many more.