Boys Present SEM at Armourers & Brasiers Alumni Event

St Paul’s Lower Eighth boys showcased the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and talked about the Halley Research Community at the alumni evening at the Worshipful Company of Armourers & Brasiers on Thursday 9 February.

The Armourers & Brasiers’ Company is a Livery Company of the City of London. Through the Armourers & Brasiers Gauntlet Trust, the Company supports general good causes and education and research in Materials Science and Metallurgy.  The alumni event is for members of the company and past recipients of their awards program, designed to update the community on materials science research in industry and academia.

The evening included a three-minute lecture competition and graphical abstract competition where industry and academic researchers describe their work to non-specialists and leading experts alike. It is a fun evening where presenters are under pressure of a strict time limit, signalled by a rather loud bell!

During the breaks in proceedings, the St Paul’s SEM was demonstrated alongside an outreach project from the University of Manchester designed to enhance materials science education in schools. The SEM proved as popular as ever with the boys describing the instrument and their work throughout the evening. The School’s commitment to outreach, collaboration and school-age research was highlighted in the introduction speech by Bill Bonfield, Professor of  Medical Materials at the University of Cambridge . He made particular mention of the professionalism of the boys.