Quantum Technologies schools outreach
Published: 17 September 2018
UofG scientists host pupils and teachers for Quantum Technologies outreach event
On 4 and 5 September, the University's School of Physics and Astronomy, together with the Schools of Computing Science and Engineering, hosted 80 high school pupils and their teachers for a two-day Quantum Technology School.
Pupils were given an overview of Quantum Technologies and introduced to some of the ideas behind quantum communications, through tutorial talks and hands-on workshops. Workshops, run by the three Schools involved, covered polarisation and 3-D imaging, cryptography, and encoding information in the amplitude of a laser beam. Pupils also got the chance to chat to a panel of current undergraduate students about their experiences at University so far, and both pupils and teachers participated in a demonstration of “MacroPhoton”, a specially designed outreach demonstrator for quantum key distribution, delivered by colleagues from Heriot-Watt.
This event brought together colleagues from Strathclyde, Heriot-Watt, and across three different Schools here at Glasgow, as well as pupils and teachers from around Glasgow, and beyond, for a fun and exhausting two days. Many thanks to all who helped make the event a huge success: technical and support staff, graduate and undergraduate helpers, and QComm, the York quantum communications hub for support.
Formal and informal feedback received from participants was overwhelmingly positive, some of which can be seen on twitter, under the hashtag #quantumschoolglasgow. Some quotes from feedback forms are also given below.
“Very engaging talks and interesting/interactive workshops. Thoroughly enjoyed.”
Pupil feedback
“It was really useful to tie together STEM subjects and allow the pupils to see how they could apply their current learning in an exciting field”
Teacher feedback
First published: 17 September 2018