Over 550 Students from nine local post-primary schools 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 week while it was parked in Intel. 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 scattering using Dettol and water in a tube.

First year students from Lucan Community College were among the students who boarded the bus. Their teacher, Audrey Byrne said, “The students really enjoyed doing the experiments on board the Lab in a Lorry. The hand-on aspect of the initiative is really worthwhile – it is only by doing the experiments themselves that the students will remember and understand them properly.”

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.