First and second year students from St. Patrick’s Comprehensive School in Shannon. The post-primary students boarded the ‘Lab in a Lorry’ in Intel to undertake some fun and interesting physics experiments. The Lab in a Lorry is a mobile laboratory that aims to give students aged 11 to 14 the opportunity to do hands-on physics experiments with advice and guidance from volunteer scientists or engineers.

“Engineers and scientists working in Intel volunteered their time to staff the lorry for the visit. During the hour long sessions on the lorry, the students completed three experiments; making a wine glass resonate using electromechanical energy conversion, exploring tribology and lubrication theory by using glycerine between two Perspex sheets and illustrating light scattering using Dettol, fructose and water in a tube.

Noel Murphy from Intel Shannon organized the sponsorship of the Lab in a Lorry, he said, “We were delighted to work with Margaret O’Connell and her staff at St. Patrick’s Comprehensive School to bring the Lab in a Lorry to Shannon. Intel Shannon is working with the local schools to raise the profile of science and electronics in the community. The lab is an exciting way to present science to young students and encourage them to pursue courses in the physical sciences at third level.”

A partnership between the Institute of Physics and the Schlumberger Foundation, Lab in a Lorry aims to encourage positive attitudes towards science and to make science and engineering more attractive to 11 to 14 year olds.

Intel, the world leader in silicon innovation, develops technologies, products and initiatives to continually advance how people work and live. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom.