Workshops

Holiday workshops: Skateboards to starships (ages 12–14)

Explore how the laws of motion take us into space and beyond.

Children in a classroom with plastic globes
Image credit: Tim Mitchell

In this workshop with John Davies, maths science and engineering come together to show how humankind has reached the stars and beyond. Using the work of three great thinkers, Al-Karismi, Newton and Tsiolkovsky, students will use mathematical equations to work out all manner of things from how fast a skateboard travels to how long it will take to fly to distant stars. A truly astronomical day!

This session is sold out, but is being repeated on Wednesday 16 August for the same age group. Find out more.

This workshop is strictly for 12–14 year-olds and will include a 30 minute lunch break. Students should bring lunch and a drink. We reserve the right to refund or deny entry to those who are not in this age range.

Refunds can only be issued for tickets cancelled at least two weeks (14 calendar days) in advance of the event date. Please note that this supersedes our normal event terms and conditions. Please also note that Eventbrite adds a small booking fee to the amount paid for each ticket option.

About the speakers

John Davies is a lifelong engineer and has been fascinated by space travel ever since he read the Dan Dare stories in the Eagle in the 50s. John was the first person in his family to go to university, studying Electronics at Liverpool University. He joined Hawker Siddeley Dynamics Space Projects Division in 1968 and worked on the latter stages of the most substantial launch vehicle ever built in UK, Bluestreak. He also worked on satellite projects including a design study for a large space telescope which acquired the name Hubble about 12 years later.

Rob Swinney holds degrees in Astrophysics (University of Newcastle) and Radio Astronomy (University of Manchester).  After several years teaching Craft, Design and Technology he undertook a rewarding career in the RAF as a squadron leader engineering officer.  Since 2006 he has worked as an independent consultant mainly in the space industry.  He is a co-founder and Director of the Initiative for Interstellar Studies.  Rob is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society.  His 'interstellar' work often features as part of the masters course at the International Space University and i4is ‘Starship Engineer’ courses. 



Terry Regan is a model maker to both the British Interplanetary Society (BIS) and the Initiative for Interstellar Studies (i4is). His work includes the Voyager and Pioneer deep-space probes and the winning design for the Dragonfly laser-push interstellar probe as well as the magnificent model of the BIS Daedalus starship, now on display at BIS HQ London. He also led the construction of the 4 metre high i4is 2001 monolith for the 2014 SF Worldcon in London, assisted by i4is volunteers Paul Campbell and John Davies. The monolith is now undergoing restoration at the International Space University, Strasbourg.. In his "day job" Terry maintains HGVs (trucks to our American friends). He has extensive experience in outreach for his local astronomy society. 



Satinder Shergill taught Physics, Astronomy and Robotics at Space Studio West London, a STEM studio school that specialises in Space, Aerospace, Science, and Maths. He is researching a PhD in "Adaptive In-Situ Resource Utilisation (ISRU) refinement systems for Long-Term Space Exploration" at  Cranfield University, the UK's only exclusively postgraduate university. He has delivered papers at the International Astronautical Congress and other specialised international conferences. He holds degrees from Cranfield University and the University of Surrey and a diploma from UCL, in subjects including Astronomy, Electronics and Astronautics & Space Engineering.

 

About our workshops

Holiday workshops at the Royal Institution give students a hands-on experience of STEM topics (science, technology, engineering, maths) beyond what they learn at school. Working in groups or pairs, students will get hands-on to complete activities, challenges or projects which help them look deeper at the subject they are exploring. These workshops don’t follow the school curriculum but instead show students the many real world uses of STEM topics, expanding their horizons beyond the classroom to see the amazing possibilities science can give you. Sessions are led by experts from across industry and academia who will share with the students their excitement and knowledge of their areas of expertise.

For any queries regarding this workshop please email events@ri.ac.uk.

Support to attend holiday workshops

The Potential Trust may be able to offer financial assistance to enable children to participate in Ri events and activities if this would otherwise be financially difficult. Please contact Denise Yates, or at their new email address here

 

 

Covid guidelines

Face masks are no longer mandatory and wearing one in our Theatre and at other Ri events is at your discretion, however please do not attend the Ri if you are displaying Covid symptoms or, if you have tested, the result remains positive. Thank you for respecting other people and their choices, and for helping us keep all of our visitors and staff safe and well.

Event terms and conditions