Student physicist becomes new voice of UK science at NESTA competition

Demonstration on microwave technology wows the judges - <em>News</em>

Tuesday 12 June 2007
By Naomi Weston

Student physicist, Nicholas Harrigan, from Imperial College London, is this year’s winner at the NESTA FameLab competition after wowing the judges with his demonstration on the science of microwaves, on Saturday 9 June at the Cheltenham Science Festival.

Nicholas, a postgraduate student in Quantum Information, from the Department of Physics, won the £2,000 prize at the national competition, which aims to discover the new voices of UK science and engineering.

Wearing a full chef’s outfit, Nicholas demonstrated to the judges how microwaves work and enlightened them on how microwaves create heat in food. "It’s a bit like rubbing your hands together," Nicholas explained. "The microwaves make the water molecules in things jig about and rub together and so they heat up."

In addition he made a light bulb light up in the microwave. On announcing the winner Kathy Sykes, Co-Director of the Cheltenham Science Festival and NESTA Trustee said the judges thought Nicholas had been really brave in choosing to use props and demonstrations which can often go wrong. "Nicholas has huge potential and was prepared to take risks," she said.

Nicholas got through to the final of NESTA FameLab at a London regional heat held in April this year. All finalists had just 5 minutes in which to meet the judge’s requirements for 'content, clarity and charisma'. His talk on how spiders cling to walls impressed the panel of judges.

Nicholas was also chosen as the audience’s favourite performer in a paper ballot taken at this weekend’s final, attended by more than 250 people. On accepting his prizes Nicholas said that he thought NESTA FameLab was a brilliant idea. "I like sharing things that make me go 'wow that’s so cool'," he explained. "There are so many everyday things that you can find in the house that are awesome."

He added: "Winning the competition has been a fantastic surprise, all of the talks given in the final were excellent. The competition has been an immense amount of fun, and I've made loads of new friends through it."

NESTA FameLab is the brainchild of the Cheltenham Science Festival and NESTA – the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts. On the thinking behind the initiative Jonathan Kestenbaum, CEO of NESTA, said: "To be able to convey scientific concepts in a way that engages a broad audience is an increasingly important skill. In addition to enhancing public understanding, we need to ensure we’re doing enough to inspire people into careers in this area if we are to meet rising demand for science and technology skills."

The prize of £2,000, also includes a tour of international events and a 2-week internship with Channel 4, a key NESTA FameLab sponsor.

The competition is supported by The Daily Telegraph, Research Councils UK, The British Council and Channel 4.