Any Galwegians Want to Volunteer?

I am part of the  Galway Science and Technology Festival committee this year and just thought I'd mention that the festival is looking for volunteers for the Exhibition Day which takes place at NUI Galway on Sunday November 27.

The organising committee and NUI Galway are looking for 100 volunteers to help out on the day when hundreds of scientists, engineers and business innovators will showcase their work at 60 interactive stands.

Visitors to the exhibition will be able to participate in experiments, watch demonstrations, and discuss ideas with researchers from NUI Galway and GMIT, as well as industry representatives from the festival’s main sponsor Medtronic and others such as Boston Scientific, CISCO, Hewlett Packard, Avaya, Covidien, SAP, Lake Region and Creganna.

Different exhibits will allow the public to learn more about topics such as life-saving medical devices, renewable energy, IT in the future, and kitchen chemistry. NUI Galway’s museums will all be open on the day, and the popular 3D tour of the universe makes a welcome return.

Dean of Science at NUI Galway, Professor Tom Sherry, says the college is delighted to host the exhibition for the second year in a row.

“ Last year’s event was a huge success, “ he says, “and this year we have been working hard to improve dealing with the large numbers of visitors we are expecting. For this purpose, we are inviting anyone who is interested to volunteer some of their time on the 27th to help us get people around to all of the different activities that will be spread across the NUI Galway campus.”

A science and technology background is not required to volunteer as information and training will be given in advance of the event. To sign up for volunteering please contact william.brennan@nuigalway.ie . For general information on the festival seewww.galwayscience.ie and to prebook the shows for the exhibition visit www.galwayscience.eventbrite.com

You can follow the above links to see more about he festival. The exhibition day is free for all and is a fun, family-oriented event. Check out the cool shows that are on and book your place now because it gets crowded. Fast.

Sadie and Loki

Remember Sadie and Loki, those cute little kittens? Well they're getting bigger and stronger.

But...they still think they're kitten-sized!

Twitter Saves a Bookstore

Well not Twitter exactly, but back to that in a minute.  

I'm part of a group called ItStartsWith.Us. The goal of ItStartsWith.Us is "to build a global community of individuals focused on making a positive impact in the lives of the people around them." And it takes just 15 minutes a week. This week the mission is to take that 15 minutes to help promote someone or a cause. It was inspired by a video about how a dedicated son, a blog post, a tweet, and a promise of free burritos saved a bookstore. 

When I saw the video I knew I had to share it, so here it is.

Last Monday there was more flooding here in Ireland. We had some really bad flooding in late 2009 and after the earthquake in Haiti (early 2010) there was a huge outcry that we had helped over there but hadn't helped our flood victims. This time let's do more: The Irish Red Cross is running a Floods Appeal until the 26th November. 

Donal Forde, Secretary General of Irish Red Cross said “Donations received will be used to support those whose homes have been damaged by flood water caused by Monday’s record rainfall. We will work closely with the Community Welfare Service within the Department of Social Protection to identify those most in need of our assistance”.

Anyone wishing to donate to the Irish Red Cross ‘Irish Floods’ appeal can do so online; by phone: 1850 50 70 70; or by cheque made out to ‘Irish Red Cross’ and marked ‘Irish Floods’ and sent to Irish Red Cross, 16 Merrion Square, Dublin 2.