When did your interest in science begin?
I have a very vague memory of my mum showing me a bath-time science experiment – I was maybe about 4 years old? Or maybe I don’t remember it – but it has become family history. She showed me how you could use a fairy liquid bottle full of water and squeeze it out at just the right pressure to get a ping pong ball balanced on it. I don’t know if I knew it was science but I knew it was fun.
Years later, when I started work at Techniquest and saw the beach ball hovering on air, it made me think how that experiment had really stuck with me. My mum was a maths teacher and my Dad a metallurgist, and I had a fab Physics teacher at school (Mr Key), so I suppose I had (what we now call) high science capital growing up!
What does ‘science’ mean to you?
I always felt it was a way to make sense of the world and I quite liked taking things apart and seeing what’s hidden inside them. I struggled with biology though, as I was a bit squeamish (I nearly fainted taking my own pulse in school!) so it was more the physical sciences that fascinated me. I think if I’d understood what engineering was earlier on I might have chosen that instead of physics as I definitely have a preference for the applied physics stuff.
What inspired Science Made Simple?
I’d fallen in love with live science shows as a format for science communication during my time with Techniquest and working around Australia. I was aware that there was a real appetite from schools for physics-based shows – perhaps because there was such a shortage of physics teachers. I think general science teachers sometimes found it hard to connect secondary school students (especially teenagers) with physics as a subject. I wanted to take in experiences that could help show students and teachers the relevance of physics and change the stereotypes associated with physics. I thought doing that by touring shows to schools and family events was a good way to try and reach those who might not choose to come to a science centre.
Why the name? (science isn’t simple for most!)
That is true, science isn’t always simple, and in fact making it simple is a lot harder than people think. Einstein apparently said “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler” which sums up what we try to do.
Some academics hate the name because they say you can’t make their research simple. In a way they are right – we’re not trying to teach everyone post-graduate or professor level research – but all science concepts should be able to be simplified so that more people can access the wonder and beauty of what’s going on. You may have to leave out some numbers or equations and choose your words wisely – but I’d argue if you can’t explain your work simply you might not really understand it yourself!
How has SMS changed and developed?
Over the past 21 years, in so many ways – we’ve gone from having just one show to having more than 30 shows we have written and performed. We’ve gone from 1 person to 17 people across 4 regions and then shrunk again. We’ve had difficult years through Covid and faced challenges fundraising to support schools who don’t always have budget for STEM enrichment. We’ve diversified how we stay afloat by offering a range of services including show commissions, teacher CPD projects, researcher training, making careers videos, all sorts, but all within our core 3 part mission.
We get a lot more engagement with audiences digitally through our social media work now and try to stay on top of how fast that world is changing.
It’s been inspiring to see science communication and public engagement with research become more recognized over those years and it is now expected as part of what researchers do, and how universities report their societal impact. This has helped create more jobs for science communicators in general but I’d say it’s still a daily challenge to keep a not-for-profit social enterprise going when your social goals mean trying to find funds to support proper full-time jobs for the talented communicators we have.
Our core customers are in the education sector which is notoriously badly funded so even though many governments talk of the importance of STEM skills for the future economy, it is not always backed up with the relevant educational funding that allows long-term interventions. But we’ve survived and we’ll continue to fight the battle!
Which is your favourite SMS show?
It would probably have to be our first show ‘Music to your Ears’ as my degree was in Physics and Music and I have always loved all things around the science of sound and music technology. We’ve had various adaptations over the years – Music vs the machine (Music Tech), Sound at the extremes (working with visually impaired groups) Science of the Voice (in partnership with an opera singer), The Bionic Ear (how our ears work and how they can go wrong) – but there are just so many great demonstrations and stories in the subject that there’s lots to talk about. Also the technology is changing so fast that it’s been great to look into how we update the show as new music technology develops like the new trend for AI cover versions.
Tell us about a memorable international project.
I think being part of the big EU Horizon 2020 project ‘Our Space Our Future‘ was hugely memorable. We were able to work with five professional outreach organisations of different kinds in Denmark, England, Italy and Portugal, and the funding allowed us to put in a proper academic evaluation to try and rigorously gain understanding of what works in terms of shifting the career aspirations of young people. All the partners were so passionate, and we got to learn so much from each other even though our plans were hugely disrupted due to Covid. I will treasure the memory from our final meeting in Copenhagen where the Planetarium partners there arranged for us to be picked up on a boat by two ‘Astronauts’ who took us on a picnic and prosecco boat tour of the city.
What does the future hold for Science Made Simple?
I’m excited to be doing some more academic crossover work between my research into the effectiveness of role models and understanding how our work can be even better at changing the aspirations of young people. I’m also really inspired to be working with new academic partners on trying to understand how curiosity can be sparked in young people and how that might link to the new Curriculum here in Wales. This year we’ve had our first ever ‘year in industry’ student who wanted a science communication placement and he’s been teaching us lots about using TikTok. No doubt social media will play a more important part in what we do if we want to reach bigger audiences and help tackle misinformation about science. I think it’s very hard to predict where we’d be in five years, but as long as we still have a team of passionate people on board, we’ll still be here trying hard to change the image of science and enthuse the next generation of scientists AND science communicators.
Awards & highlights
We are proud of what we are achieving and we are proud of our colleagues. Our presenters are LAMDA trained public speakers. Over the years the company and its team have won a number of awards and prizes. Here is a list of some of the awards as well as other highlights in the history of Science Made Simple.
- 2017 Wendy is awarded an MBE in Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to science and engineering communication
- 2017 Science Made Simple celebrates its 15th birthday with an event at the Senedd
- 2017 Science Made Simple wins the Institute of Physics William Thomson, Lord Kelvin Medal and Prize
- 2016 Wendy gives the opening keynote speech to SciFest Africa
- 2015 Science Made Simple wins the Leading Wales Award for Social Enterprise
- 2015 Science Made Simple staff perform in Poland, China, Kazakhstan, the USA and Korea
- 2011 Wendy is appointed to the Science Advisory Council for Wales
- 2009 David is awarded the Manchester Science Festival Josh Award for Outstanding Innovation in Science Communication
- 2009 Royal Academy of Engineering medal for the Public Promotion of Engineering
- 2008 UK RC Woman of Outstanding Achievement Award
- 2007 Descartes Prize for Excellence in Science Communication
- 2007 Institute of Acoustics’ Award for Promoting Acoustics to the Public
- 2005 Institute of Physics Young Professional Physicist of the Year Award
- 2004 Women in Science and Engineering Excellence Award
- 2004 Welsh Woman of the Year (Science and Technology)
