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◆STEM · Exhibits

Exhibits & Demonstrations

Making science visible: the exhibits, demonstrations and physical things that make an idea click. The ones I’ve helped build, and the ones I go out of my way to see.

The New Precious Metals at Xplore!: the whole exhibit case, asking where the metals in your tech come from

◆Projects

Things I’ve helped make

The New Precious Metals at Xplore!: a dial-driven screen asking which metals are most in demand

2024Xplore!, Wrexham · Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro · Eden Project, Cornwall

The New Precious Metals

A 3.5-metre interactive. Visitors try to meet rising demand for lithium, tin and cobalt, either by opening new mines or by repairing, refurbishing and recycling what has already been dug up.

My partPart of the Met4Tech team that produced the research underpinning the exhibit, as a Co-Investigator at the University of Birmingham. I also ran the science-engagement workshop at its Xplore! launch.

Exhibit by the Met4Tech team.

Project page →

My PowerPoint concept for the generic Energy Innovation Zone graphic: an isometric zone inside a regional boundary, linked to customers, the public sector, business and industry, universities and the LEP (detail)

2017–2018Tyseley Energy Park · Energy Capital, West Midlands

Energy Innovation Zone diagrams, Powering West Midlands Growth

A set of double-page isometric diagrams, one for each proposed Energy Innovation Zone, so a reader could take in a whole energy district at once. The Tyseley Energy Park drawing set the style for the others.

My partI drew the original concept for the Tyseley Energy Park diagram in PowerPoint (it existed by March 2017). Later, as Policy Commission Manager, I specified the report's diagram set and drew the concept for the generic Energy Innovation Zone graphic.

Concepts neatened up and drawn for print by Creative Media, University of Birmingham.

Project page →
More isometric graphics: Infographics →

March 2017Birmingham

Birmingham Energy Institute stand, UK–Qatar Business & Investment Forum

A screen enclosure running the Clean Cold animation in English and Arabic, an illuminated Energy Capital graphic, a Highview Power plinth, and the Dearman engine on its own plinth.

My partDesigned and organised the University's stand with about a month's notice, while the organisers were slow to confirm the space. I pushed for pieces that pack down and travel to the next event rather than going in a skip.

Screen enclosure built by Innovision; graphics by Creative Media, University of Birmingham.

Project page →

2009BBC One · The Open University

Human Power Station, Bang Goes the Theory

Eighty bicycle-powered generators connected to a family home, for a BBC One special made with The Open University.

My partConsultant to Electric Pedals. I worked with Colin Tonks and Tim Siddall, who built bicycle generators to power DC installations, to design the interface between eighty bikes and a family home: live feedback telling the riders how hard to pedal, and power that was near-instantaneous rather than charged into a store. The key step was a small bank of supercapacitors on the DC side. It gave the group just enough buffer to respond while an islanded inverter supplied the house.

Built with Colin Tonks and Tim Siddall; Electric Pedals for BBC One and The Open University.

Project page →

◆Why I do this

Why physical things

I’m fascinated by the ways science can be made visible: a demonstration that makes an idea click, an object you can walk round, an exhibit a school party can’t resist pressing. For most people, that is where science starts.

My own way in was through making. Before academia I wrote practical project books for McGraw-Hill’s Evil Genius series, on model rockets, solar energy, fuel cells and holography, and from 2008 to 2017 I delivered Engineering Masterclasses for the Royal Institution.

Designing for visitors is the same instinct at a larger scale. In 2009 I worked with Electric Pedals on the Human Power Station for BBC One’s Bang Goes the Theory, on the link between eighty pedal generators and a family home. In early 2017 I drew the original concept for an isometric diagram of Tyseley Energy Park, a way to take in a whole energy district at once, and had about a month to design the Birmingham Energy Institute’s stand at the UK–Qatar Business & Investment Forum, where I argued for pieces that could be packed down and used again rather than built and thrown away. The next year, as Policy Commission Manager for Powering West Midlands Growth, I drew the concept for the generic Energy Innovation Zone graphic that followed it. More recently I was part of the Met4Tech team that produced the research underpinning The New Precious Metals, a 3.5-metre interactive that has travelled from Xplore! in Wrexham to the Royal Cornwall Museum and the Eden Project.

I was a trustee of the Centre for Alternative Technology in 2013–14, and joined its Development Board in 2026.

Roles along the way

 
Engineering Masterclasses, Royal Institution
2008–2017
 
Trustee, Centre for Alternative Technology, including its Education & Training Sub-committee
2013–2014
 
Member, Development Board, Centre for Alternative Technology
Since 2026

◆On my travels

Places that taught me

When I travel, I make time for science museums and discovery centres. The map shows the ones I’ve visited so far.

23 museums, science centres and energy sites in five countries on three continents

I look for exhibits that survive a school party, explain without a wall of text, and tell the story of energy and materials honestly. I also look at how they’re built: the best pieces can be taken down, moved and used again.

These are some of the exhibits that stayed with me.

Energy you can stand next to

The Henry Ford, Dearborn: A full-size windmill hung overhead, so visitors look up at the machine itself

The Henry Ford, DearbornA full-size windmill hung overhead, so visitors look up at the machine itself.

PURE Energy Centre, Shetland: Small wind turbines on the hill: the power source in plain sight of the plant

PURE Energy Centre, ShetlandSmall wind turbines on the hill: the power source in plain sight of the plant.

PURE Energy Centre, Shetland: The whole hydrogen site on open moorland: containers, cylinders and trailer. The plant is the exhibit

PURE Energy Centre, ShetlandThe whole hydrogen site on open moorland: containers, cylinders and trailer. The plant is the exhibit.

Olympic Park Energy Centre, Stratford: A cut-away pipe joint showing the insulation that keeps the heat in

Olympic Park Energy Centre, StratfordA cut-away pipe joint showing the insulation that keeps the heat in.

Materials and recycling

Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago: Hydrogen, lithium and sodium as real cylinders, jars and products in a periodic wall

Museum of Science and Industry, ChicagoHydrogen, lithium and sodium as real cylinders, jars and products in a periodic wall.

Powerhouse Museum, Sydney: Numbered recycled flooring samples, from old tyres to wine corks, in a touchable panel

Powerhouse Museum, SydneyNumbered recycled flooring samples, from old tyres to wine corks, in a touchable panel.

Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago: "Poop to Power": four tanks that walk visitors through anaerobic digestion step by step

Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago"Poop to Power": four tanks that walk visitors through anaerobic digestion step by step.

Scienceworks, Melbourne: A landfill in cross-section behind glass: the rubbish shown, not described

Scienceworks, MelbourneA landfill in cross-section behind glass: the rubbish shown, not described.

Hands-on interactives

Corning Museum of Glass: "Which house is warmer?" asks visitors to compare two model houses before giving the answer

Corning Museum of Glass"Which house is warmer?" asks visitors to compare two model houses before giving the answer.

Museum of Science, Boston: "Capture the Sun's energy": move a panel through morning, noon and afternoon and record what you get

Museum of Science, Boston"Capture the Sun's energy": move a panel through morning, noon and afternoon and record what you get.

Technopolis: "Wanted: electrician": a real circuit board with leads, lamps and meters to connect

Technopolis"Wanted: electrician": a real circuit board with leads, lamps and meters to connect.

Technopolis: A geothermal interactive: heat from underground made into a press-and-see wall

TechnopolisA geothermal interactive: heat from underground made into a press-and-see wall.

Objects you can walk round

Museum of Science, Boston: Tower, trough and dish: three ways to concentrate sunlight, set side by side as models

Museum of Science, BostonTower, trough and dish: three ways to concentrate sunlight, set side by side as models.

MIT Museum, Cambridge MA: A robot head with the engineering left bare

MIT Museum, Cambridge MAA robot head with the engineering left bare.

Scienceworks, Melbourne: A whole farm landscape in miniature, lit from within a table

Scienceworks, MelbourneA whole farm landscape in miniature, lit from within a table.

Olympic Park Energy Centre, Stratford: A model house with dials, so visitors see what each choice does to a home's energy use

Olympic Park Energy Centre, StratfordA model house with dials, so visitors see what each choice does to a home's energy use.

The buildings themselves

The Henry Ford, Dearborn: The Dymaxion House living room, furnished as if someone had just stepped out

The Henry Ford, DearbornThe Dymaxion House living room, furnished as if someone had just stepped out.

The Henry Ford, Dearborn: A cut-away Dymaxion House wall, with pointing labels on each layer

The Henry Ford, DearbornA cut-away Dymaxion House wall, with pointing labels on each layer.

SPECIFIC, Swansea: A building whose skin is the experiment: solar collectors built into the facade

SPECIFIC, SwanseaA building whose skin is the experiment: solar collectors built into the facade.

Powerhouse Museum, Sydney: A cut-open model of a sustainable house: the building as the teaching aid

Powerhouse Museum, SydneyA cut-open model of a sustainable house: the building as the teaching aid.

◆Get in touch

Working on an exhibit?

I’m always glad to hear from museums, science centres and exhibition teams, especially on energy, batteries and the materials behind the energy transition.

Contact me