On our Year 13 students’ penultimate day at school, those who are going on to study science-related subjects at university took part in a poster conference in the Ada Benson Building gardens. Students worked in groups of three to research a topic of interest and share their findings on a poster, which was then displayed for their peers and teachers to look at. Following the conference, we spoke to a couple of the Year 13s who took part to find out why they picked their specific topics.
From Clara, Miranda and Martha:
‘Last week for the OHS STEM university bridging seminar, we were tasked with creating an academic poster on a subject of our choice. We chose to focus on neuromorphic engineering because it combined all our interests within cutting-edge science.
Neuromorphic engineering is a new method of computing which mimics the brain by adapting a similar system of artificial neurons and synapses to create faster, much more efficient supercomputers. This type of engineering addresses both the continuing need to increase the processing power of computers in machine learning, and the environment and resource cost of modern computing, which is progressively more important as technology is integrated into our daily lives more and more.’
From Nicole, May and Diyana:
‘Initially, when coming up with the idea, we knew that we wanted to explore a topic that linked both medicine and psychology to satisfy our groups’ interests. As a feeling many of us experience, we thought it would be interesting to research the psychology and key processes associated with pain. This involved scrutinising the feedback made by the brain and pain fibres (particular nerve fibres) in response to different noxious stimuli, for instance extreme temperatures. Additionally, we were fascinated by the mechanisms underlying the cause of the placebo effect and other pain relief treatments including painkillers. From researching this topic, we were able to achieve a general sense of the meaning behind pain, as well as refining our research skills that we can later implement at university.’
Well done to all of our Year 13s who took part in this conference!
