PRiME Researchers exhibit at Farnborough International Air Show

Three PRiME researchers attended the Farnborough International Air Show Futures Day on July 15th 2016.

Futures Day opens the Air Show Exhibition to schools and other youth organisations, with the objective of inspiring the younger generation to enter into a career in Aerospace. Over 5,000 children from the region attend the show and participate in a variety of talks and educational activities.

Dr Asieh Salehi, Dr Colin Snook and Dr Domenico Balsamo presented an interactive activity called “Rodin Maths”, developed from the public engagement activity they had previously created for the University of Southampton Science and Engineering Day.

The activity was adapted to focus on aeroplanes, showing how maths and formal modelling can be used to safely control manouvres. A Rodin computer model was used to illustrate whether the participants’ approach was successful.

The format of the Farnborough exhibition allowed the PRiME researchers to spend more time with each participant, and allowed them to explain the concepts in more depth, particularly to the older children. Feedback was extremely positive and all of the participants said they came away learning more about safety and how maths can be used in safety critical systems.