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At-Bristol and Aviation Leaders Partner to Inspire Young
Airbus and Messier-Dowty marks commitment to education with Airbus A340
landing gear exhibit
29 June 2006 - More businesses in the UK should take the lead from the
aviation industry in adopting more public engagement strategies to inspire
and engage the younger generation in science and engineering, says
At-Bristol. Airbus and Messier-Dowty mark their commitment to bringing
engineering to life and demonstrating the world-leading innovation and
technology that comes from the South West by contributing an Airbus A340
landing gear for display in At-Bristol, the leading science centre in the
UK.
"With falling numbers of children studying science and entering science
careers, it is critical that more efforts are needed to enthuse the young
to be part of this highly innovative industry. The science and engineering
sector certainly have a part to play and can be more involved by working
closely with science education organisations, such as At-Bristol." says
Goery Delacote, Chief Executive, At-Bristol.
"Children respond best to and are inspired by direct interaction. Science
centres like At-Bristol therefore create that ideal open platform to
bridge the communication divide between scientists and pupils, by getting
experts actively involved and making science learning an engaging and
edifying experience." adds Goery.
"In working with Messier-Dowty and At-Bristol on this project, and in
extending this partnership further to other organisations, we are helping
not only to redress the issue of skills shortages in our dynamic industry,
but to showcase the amazing world-beating innovations being developed
right here on our doorstep in the South West." Said Iain Gray, Managing
Director of Airbus UK.
The landing gear used in the Airbus A340 is one of the largest main
landing gears used in passenger aircraft, the successful design of the
gear is light enough to form only five percent of the plane's final weight
and to be able to squeeze into the smallest possible area of the aircraft.
Through the exhibit, visitors will also learn that the challenge for
aviation engineers while designing a passenger aircraft was in absorbing
the huge impact of landing. As an aircraft may also travel up to 300 000
miles in its lifetime, the exhibit also demonstrate the second challenge
face by engineers, which is to make landing comfortable, whatever the
state of the runway.
The landing gear is on display in Explore-At-Bristol and there will be
further development in the science centre to include a range of
interactive exhibits that focus on the physical phenomena related to
flight.
For more information please contact Mavis Choong, At-Bristol Press Office
tel: 0117 915 7137; mob: 07967 33 4152; email:
mavis.choong@at-bristol.org.uk
Note to Editors:
At-Bristol is the leading science centre in UK and a major
player in the world-wide science centre movement. It aims to be a
world-class science and natural history centre that makes distinctive,
valued and recognised contributions to informal science learning and
public engagement with science locally, regionally, nationally and
internationally. A registered charity, At-Bristol has hosted more than 2.5
million visitors and continually strives towards making science accessible
to all.
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