Hi everyone
I was going to write a serious blog today about women in science, it is a subject about which I have a lot to say and I have a lot of experience of. However, it is Saturday (now Sunday), it has been a long week and my heart and mind do not want to reach deeply into a subject that involves me having to delve into difficult times, try not to step on people’s toes and articulate my thoughts in a reasoned manner. For many reasons this is a topic that is not appropriate to tackle via a quick rant or surface observation. It was #adalovelaceday this week, celebrating women in science and tech so I have been reading a lot and incubating new thoughts and opinions , but they will have to wait.
The only thing I will say is – women, be empowered, it is your world too and that not only means that you get opportunities, you also have the right to thrive in an environment and in a manner that feels right to you.
So, this is a pre-cursor blog to some of the more in-depth research and musings that will follow over the next few months. Instead I am going to tell you what is happening in my life at the moment and what my plans are for the next 12 months. Right now it seems pretty set in stone – but I have a feeling that a lot of exciting things are going to materialise.
Firstly: I have officially become a director of Interactive Scientific Ltd. We work on something that we call digital aesthetics and immersive experiences. What that means is that we use clever computing to visualise data or imagine worlds that we can’t see. In particular, our speciality is creating digital representations of atoms and molecules, for different purposes, using scientific research and models . If you follow me on social media you will probably hear me talk about the Nano Simbox, this is an education tool that we are developing for use in schools, I have talked about it in this blog a while ago, but we have moved on and there will be more to come. I will also be blogging about this at www.interactivescientific.com starting later this year.
The Nano Simbox is not something that you can buy yet, but we are really excited to be moving to the next phase with it, thanks to some investment. We have also been awarded a UFI fund to work with vocational learners as well as continuing our work with schools. We have been chosen to demonstrate at BETT futures as we are showing innovative educational technology with a global potential, which is a big educational technology event that I blogged about earlier this year.
If you are a teacher reading this then you HAVE to get in touch – we want you to be part of the family.
We have also just chosen our very own office, I can’t wait to decorate it, our fist dedicated home. Even writing all this stuff make me feel a little manic, it is like a snowball, the weeks are flying by and there is so much to do. I hope you don’t see this as me bragging or heavily promoting. The truth is we are in a very privileged position and there is a lot of responsibility to create something that serves the greater good. It is exciting, humbling and, quite frankly, petrifying.
Again if you follow me on social media you will know that we are hiring – it is such an exciting time for this company that I can promise anyone who applies for these jobs that we will work hard, have fun and be part of something magnificent.
Secondly: We are in preparation for the next Dollypop show – I have been writing funding applications and we have been booking our tour, which is going to be in September next year. We have a mind-blowingly brilliant collaboration which I shall keep secret for now, that is for all the Dollypop ladies to talk about together. The working title is “The Letter Connection” and it is about the power of letters to say things that we can’t find the words to say in person, connect to others and take time to pause, in our crazy fast digital world.
We will be doing R&D in March, and there will definitely be singing and dancing. We will be working in schools on this project too, so for all teachers reading this if your curriculum allows time for some nurturing activity and you want a workshop about connecting to wider world issues and each other through letter writing then let me know. I read a book called one million lovely letters and they have a website, so if you want some letter writing activity fix before we have started our activity check it out.
I think that letter writing and blogging have a lot in common. Somehow the written word is less scary than an actual conversation, and it gives you a chance to pause and process as well as communicate to other people. You press post and then it is out there in the world, as a statement of intent.
Finally: Should I update you on my personal life too? Ha, what personal life – you really think I have time for that on top of everything else!! 😉
Finally, finally: I am going to the World Gymnastics Championships next week – this is MASSIVE, I am a huge gymnastics fan, if I’m not working I am in a gym or watching gym videos, and I am going to get to see some of the greatest gymnasts of all time!! I will be blogging about that, although I am there all weekend so I might not have a chance to blog about it until the week after.
Thanks for reading, it has been fun doing a quick catch up.
x
