News

The UC3M will be at the stand, where the Madrid universities will take turns, on 28th March from 16:00 to 20:00, with three activities that aim to show in an entertaining way samples of research work that is being carried out at the university in different scientific and technological disciplines, such as bioengineering, IT and telecommunications.

Bioprinting, smart homes and Big Data

Those attending will be able to see first-hand what a 3D bioprinter capable of creating totally functional human skin is like and how it works, made by researchers from the UC3M Department of Bioengineering and Aerospace Engineering. This skin is able to be transplanted to patients and used for research and tests of cosmetic, chemical and pharmaceutical products. The activity is called “3D Bioprinting, a new way of making organs”.

“Talking to my smart home”, consists of a demonstration in real time which will show how the “Internet of Things” works, where there is a digital interconnection with everyday objects. For this, a team of female researchers from the UC3M Department of Telematic Engineering will show how communication protocols work, which allow us to turn on a light bulb or control air conditioning from other devices connected to the internet, such as our mobile phones.

Lastly, there will also be another activity at the stand which this time is based on Big Data. In the workshop “surfing in a sea of data”, carried out by female scientists from the UC3M IT Department, the visitors will learn to search for information among thousands of pieces of data using semantics and virtual reality. Those attending will be able to select and categorise data published on the internet on a certain topic of interest through an immersive bubble chart, which can be viewed in a virtual reality environment, exploring the information it contains in an innovative and fun way.

Other activities

Cryptography, the art of writing in a secret code or enigmatically, attempts to alter certain content with the aim of making it unintelligible to non-authorised receptors in order for it to be confidential. Lecturer from the UC3M IT Department, Ana Isabel González-Tablas, proposes playing with these techniques, presented with artistic elements and related to science as well as technology. This gamification session, which will take place at 19:00 in the Science Corner, an auditorium of the hall where different talks and workshops will be given, proposes learning symmetric cryptography through a card game (Crypto Go).

The following day, on Friday 29th March from 10:00 to 15:00, CONEX (CONnecting EXcellence) researcher from the UC3M Christopher Meir will be at the stand for the Madri+d Foundation for Knowledge and the Community of Madrid’s Department of Education, in a space aimed at promoting the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions and the European Researchers’ Night. As part of this talent attraction programme of the University, which is supported by the European Union (Marie Curie Actions from FP7 GA no. 600371), the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport and Santander Bank, he is developing a research project in the department of Journalism and Audiovisual Communication in order to analyse the impact of StudioCanal’s audiovisual production and other European studies. In this presentation he will show how European cinema has been changing in recent years, through family films such as The Little Prince, Paddington and Shaun the Sheep, and the specific effects of this change on audiences.

The Madrid Fair for Science and Innovation aims to gather the whole educational community and the main actors in the Community of Madrid’s research field. Its aim is to disseminate science and research, and show how they influence society’s economic development. What’s more, it looks to encourage scientific vocations and the creative, entrepreneurial spirit in young people, breaking down gender barriers from early ages. Those attending “Madrid for Science and Innovation” will not only see, but they will also do, touch, try and experiment first-hand, as the fair is supposed to be a place for taking part in science live and in person.