{"id":80,"date":"2015-06-25T15:11:11","date_gmt":"2015-06-25T14:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk\/uommaterialsblog\/?p=80"},"modified":"2018-05-22T16:31:53","modified_gmt":"2018-05-22T15:31:53","slug":"at-the-open-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mub.eps.manchester.ac.uk\/uommaterialsblog\/at-the-open-days\/","title":{"rendered":"At the Open Days"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"schuster\"
The Schuster lobby warming up on Saturday morning<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"One
One of our campaign booklets<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Part of the reason we attended the Open Day was to encourage interaction with our #BetterWorld campaign. If you aren\u2019t already aware, the School of Materials is part of the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences<\/a>. Within the Faculty we cover subjects ranging from materials to chemical engineering, via physics, maths, chemistry, civil engineering, and much more.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve seen some inspiring staff and students studying these subjects and others down the years. People you\u2019ve probably heard of \u2013 Ernest Rutherford<\/a>, Alan Turing<\/a>, Brian Cox<\/a> \u2013 but also some equally amazing ones that you might know less about, such as the first ever female Le Mans race engineer Leena Gade<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Me
Me making eyes at Brian. Or something.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All of these people have made the world a better place in some way. The #betterworld campaign aims to inspire you to think about how\u00a0the world could work better with you, how you could follow in the footsteps of these people.<\/p>\n

So yes, long parts of the day were made up of me feeling a bit silly while I tried to get people to take selfies with cardboard cutouts of Brian Cox, Alan Turing, and the rest and share them on social media. But never mind. If it made even one person aware of the great work done in Manchester, it\u2019ll have been well worth the embarassment.<\/p>\n

Mixing with Materials<\/strong><\/p>\n

It would’ve been a bit silly of me to not go along and see what the School of Materials had to say while I was at the Open Day, so I went to two talks to find out more about what\u2019s on offer.<\/p>\n

Dr Joseph Robson gave the first one. He was introducing a room full of teenagers and parents to materials science<\/a>, and he started by calling it \u2018the key enabling science that drives technological advance\u2019. It\u2019s a bold statement. When he went on to discuss the influence it has, though \u2013 from medicine to defence via transport, metallurgy, and chemical materials \u2013 it became clear that he had the evidence to back it up.<\/p>\n

He also shared some information that caught my attention, so I\u2019m sure parents and prospective students felt their ears prick up at this point, too. Automatic scholarships are offered to any Materials Science applicant who achieves A-Level grades of A*A*A OR A*AA. High grades, I know. But what a great incentive.<\/p>\n

\"Gianpaolo
Gianpaolo hanging out with Brian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Textiles<\/a> talk, including Design, Fashion, and Business<\/a>, was given\u00a0by Dr Gianpaolo Vignali. You can see him in picture on the right,\u00a0looking pretty happy as he poses with Professor Brian Cox(ish). Gianpaolo threw a lot of inticing\u00a0facts at those in the crowd, including these little tempters: ours is the only uni that offers fashion as a BSc. We\u2019re the largest Materials school in the Western World. Our degrees remain flexible at first, meaning you don\u2019t have to choose your specialism until the end of first year. And we have the biggest collection of textiles books in the world! Not bad, hey?<\/p>\n

He also demonstrated how much success our previous students have had, including the student in the video below. If you\u2019ve been following the blog you might recognise her.<\/p>\n