Fun and learning at the Cambridge Festival!

Colleagues at Newnham have been involved in a variety of events throughout the Cambridge Festival, which aims to engage the public in the work of the University.

Robotics Workshop

Dr Chapa Sirithunge, who is a Postdoctoral Affiliate and Postgraduate Mentor at Newnham, worked with Agnes Hoctor, our Knowledge Exchange Co-ordinator, to bring a team over to College from the Bio-inspired Robotics Lab at the Department of Engineering. Many of the team are also involved in the Cambridge Women in Robotics Network.

The event on Saturday 29 March, held as part of the Festival's Family Weekend, saw 120 people (young and old) pass through the College to learn about the various research projects that the team are involved with. The researchers' work covers a wide range of applications; including the use of robots in agriculture, how robots are helping us understand the evolution of life from the oceans onto the land, and how robots are being developed to conduct tasks that require sensitivity of touch, using sensors and soft materials to mimic skin.

The demonstrations included a mix of small robots and computer simulations, accompanied by brief presentations and the opportunity for the participants to ask lots of questions.

Many thanks to the researchers Yue Xie, Yi Zhang, Narges Khadem Hosseini, Catherine Merchant, Amanda Xu and Michael Yoshiharu Ishida.