Newsletter for the Rotary Club of Mundaring - Issue No.: 175 Issue Date: 20 May, 2012

CRAIG BROGLE, ANOTHER BRILLIANT YOUTH SCIENCE ATTENDEE

Our other National Youth Science Forum (NYSF) attendee, Craig Brogle, was our guest speaker at a recent club meeting. Craig went to New Zealand in January to attend the NYSF camp in Auckland and acquitted himself so well that he has been selected as one of eight out of 150 attendees to go on to the London International Science Forum in August this year. He is still in contact with many of the young people he met and bonded with at the forum and is looking forward to this next phase of his amazing journey, to meet up with some of them again. A highlight of the London visit is to be a tour of the CERN Large Hadron Collider, to check, he says, that it is not about to cause the end of the world.

Craig described his experience (at what came to be known affectionately as ‘Nerd Camp’ by the participants) as mind expanding, almost mind blowing, with presentations by inspirational speakers from almost every field of science. Topics ranged from the traditional physics and engineering to cognitive neuroscience, even touching on the use of 3D printers in the building industry.

It was not all academic work however. There was time for play, and Craig played his violin in a small group of musicians each morning. He claimed that the group formed to avoid doing the callisthenics organised each morning for the less talented attendees. He spoke also of long card games and loud music in the common room of the dormitory where everyone gathered at night.

Craig thanked the club wholeheartedly for our sponsorship of him to NYSF, a thing that we are proud to do, especially when we see the enthusiasm of the young people whom we assist in this way. Congratulations Craig, and good luck in London.