Celebrity Finals
In the Competition finals at The Big Bang Fair, the best five Science/Maths projects and the best five Engineering/Technology projects in the Senior age category will take part in a nerve-wracking additional level of judging - the National Science & Engineering Competition's Celebrity Finals...
Could you take on our celebrity judges?
Whereas our expert judging panels select the winners, runners-up and highly commended projects in the Junior and Intermediate age categories, they only select the top five projects in each stream for the Senior age category. This is because the top five Science/Maths projects and the top five Engineering/Technology projects in the Senior age category then go through another stage of judging - a Dragons' Den style celebrity judging session.
There are two panels which run concurrently, one for Science/Maths and one for Engineering/Technology. Each interview lasts approximately 25 minutes and the two panels then decide which projects should win and which should be the runners-up. The remaining three projects are given highly commended awards.
The judges for the 2012 finals are still being confirmed but here are the judges who made up the panels in 2011.
Science/Maths celebrity panel
Professor Jim Al-Khalili OBE – Professor of Theoretical Physics
and Professor of Public Engagement in Science at Surrey
University. Jim has written a number of books and is a regular
guest on Radio 4. He has presented several series on BBC Four
including Atom (2007), Science and Islam (2009), the BAFTA-
nominated Chemistry: A Volatile History (2010) and Everything
and Nothing (2011).
Vivienne Parry OBE – Science writer and broadcaster. With a
background in science Viv is a respected and prolific presenter
and broadcaster and a member of the Medical Research
Council. She is a former presenter of the BBC's Tomorrow's
World and has presented seven series of Am I Normal? and
four series of Inside the Ethics Committee on Radio 4. Her
most recent book, The Truth About Hormones, was shortlisted
for the 2006 Aventis Science Prize.
Sir Tim Hunt, FRS – Nobel Prize winner and world-renowned authority the control of cell division. Tim is one of the most decorated scientists in the country, becoming a fellow of the Royal Society, Nobel Prize winner, recipient of the Royal Medal and knighted by the Queen. He worked at the Cancer Research UK London Research Institute from 1990 until his retirement in 2011. He continues to make breakthroughs in the field and has been published in many science journals. Tim was the subject of the recent BBC series, Beautiful Minds.
Professor Molly Stevens – Professor of Biomedical Materials and Regenerative Medicine and the Research Director for Biomedical Material Sciences in the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at Imperial College. Molly was recognised as one of the top ten scientists under the age of 40 by The Times and by the TR100 as one of the top innovators whose work is transforming technology and the world. Currently, Molly works with students, postdocs and fellows in regenerative medicine at Imperial College. Engineering/Technology celebrity panel
Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock MBE – Space scientist, science
communicator and broadcaster. Maggie has worked on a variety
of projects from handheld devices to detect landmines to
analysing the light emitted by stars billions of miles away. She is
now developing equipment for the satellite that will replace
Hubble to enable it to monitor climate change. Maggie's
company, Science Innovation Ltd, engages children and adults
around the world with space science. She presented BBC2's Do
We Really Need the Moon? and has appeared on Doctor Who
Confidential.
Kate Bellingham – Physicist, engineer and television presenter.
Kate is probably best known as the presenter of Tomorrow's
World but has also presented a number of radio and television
programmes including The Acid Test, ITV's The Big Bang and
BBC2's Museum of Life. Although originally trained as a BBC
radio engineer, Kate also went on to train as a maths teacher
and has since been a great advocate for science and
engineering. She is the former National STEM Careers
Coordinator for the government and recently won a Women of
Outstanding Achievement Award.
David James – David is the senior lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University and a Royal Academy of Engineering Public Engagement fellow. He has been widely published and regularly featured as a key note speaker in various areas of sports engineering. David’s passion for science communications has seen him appear in noted festivals such as the Cheltenham Science Festival, Manchester Science Festival and the British Science Festival
Mark Champkins – Inventor and designer. Mark is probably best known for winning £100,000 on the Dragon’s Den from Peter Jones in 2007. He designed a range of Self-Heating Crockery in 2002, which won him the British Invention of the Year and was featured on the BBC, Discovery Channel and CNN News. Mark is currently the founder of Concentrate Design, the ‘Inventor in Residence’ at the Science Museum and the author of ‘The Big Book of Celebrity Inventions’.
Date Published: March 06, 2012