Public Engagement and Outreach

We aim to promote the public understanding of microstructure imaging, and the importance and relevance of our research. To this end, we have presented our work at a number of public events, each time having informed and fascinating discussions with members of the public.

1.  Open Day, Tottenham UTC, 31st March 2015

Andrada explained to the students at Tottenham UTC about studying medical Physics and Computing at UCL.

Andrada Ianus is telling students about Medical Imaging and studying at UCL.

Presenters: Andrada Ianus

2.  Outreach event, UCL, 3rd December 2014

Together with Rae Harbird from computer science department, we presented the importance of computing in medical imaging to young girls from Maria Fidelis Girls School in Camden.

Andrada Ianus is giving a lecture about medical imaging to school pupils.

Presenters: Andrada Ianus

3.  Big Bang Fair, Alexandra Palace, 8th July 2014

Together with other engineering groups in London, we are trying to make science accessible and fun for young people.

Lebina Shrestha and Andrada Ianus are explaining medical imaging to school children and encouraging girls to pursue careers in engineering

Presenters: Andrada Ianus and Lebina Shrestha

4.  Easter Egg Live, Channel 4, 31 March - 1 April 2013

Chicken eggs were scanned, in collaboation with CABI, for this programme on Channel 4. The embryos were scanned at various ages, showing the development of the 3D structure of the chicks in their eggs.

3D structure of a developing chicken egg Image by Holly Holmes and Bernard Siow	Scanned chicks doing well at 2.5 months old Photo by Bernard Siow
Main collaborator: Bernard

5.  UCL-Microsoft Research DemoFest 2013, 18th Jan 2013

To celebrate a new partnership between UCL Dept of Computer Science and Microsoft Research, the Department held an open day showcasing the full spectrum of its research programme.

• UCL-MSR DemoFest.

Matt Rowe presents microstructure imaging demos Photo by Matt Hall

Presenters: Matt Hall and Matt Rowe

6.  Science Uncovered, Natural History Museum, 28 September 2012

Due to the success of our demonstrations in 2011, we were invited back for the Natural History Museum's biggest afterhours event: Science Uncovered. Once again, we had scintillating scientific discussions with members of the public and A-level students.

Random walkers in an in silico white matter phantom Simulation and visualisation by Laura Panagiotaki and Matt Hall	Bernard and colleagues from CABI (Doug, Tom and Nick) describe how diffusion can be imaged in the brain Photo by Katy Ordidge
Main presenter: Bernard

7.  Cheltenham Science Festival, 12-17 June 2012

CSF is one of the leading Science Festivals. We were based in the Discover Zone and were asked challenging questions by children of all ages and adults alike.

A stylised DEC image of a developing spinal cord was selected for inclusion in the CSF newspaper, Litmus Paper. Image by Bernard Siow, Jon Cleary, Ben Duffy, Simon Richardson	Bernard and colleagues at CABI, Ma Da and Rupi, describing diffusion MRI for microstructure imaging. Also found on the official Festival Gallery. Photo by Tom Roberts
Main presenter: Bernard

8.  Science Uncovered, Natural History Museum, 23 September 2011

Science Uncovered is part of a Europe-wide festival of science celebrating European Researchers' Night. This annual evening event was frequented by A-level students, undergraduates and interested adults.

A model of Einstein's Brain Model by Mark Lythgoe	Bernard explains how students' random walks outside a pub near UCL is analogous to diffusion within tissue! Video by Gary Zhang
Main presenters: Simon, Matt and Bernard

9.  CLMS Symposium, Brunei Gallery, SOAS, 23 June 2011

The Symposium covered a wide range of life and medical sciences activities; all exploiting modern computational/IT methods; translational research and clinical impact of such approaches was addressed. Laura Pangiotaki won the poster award for “High-Fidelity Meshes from Tissue Samples for Diffusion MRI Simulations”.

A composite image of figures from Laura's award winning poster Image by Laura Panagiotaki

Main presenter: Laura

10.  Opening of the Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging, UCL, 13 April 2011

CABI is where we scan our small samples. We had a great chat with members of the media, funders, a broad spectrum of staff from UCL and selected guests.

Props we used to explain diffusion and microstructure	Laura and Bernard explain to Sir Malcolm Grant, provost of UCL, how microstructure imaging will replace invasive histological procedures.
Danny, Gary, Laura, Simon and Ale having a pre-opening huddle	Laura explains the similarities between the microstructure of asparagus and white matter.
Main presenters: Gary, Gemma, Laura, Simon and Bernard

11.  CMIC open event, UCL, December 2010

This was the 3rd CMIC open event, which highlighted CMIC's research interests. We showcased our work to prospective students, colleagues, collaborators and funders.