Science Rendezvous
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 12, 2012
Science Rendezvous invites the public to a Rendezvous with Science! May 12th 2012 Explore, learn and discover science with Science Rendezvous, a Canada-wide festival
ACROSS CANADA – An extreme scavenger hunt stile Science Chase, exploding fruit, Sumo Robot wrestling, live animals, and flame tornadoes – this is not a regular day in the city, it’s the country’s largest interactive science festival: Science Rendezvous!
On Saturday, May 12th 2012 Science Rendezvous opens the doors of over $5B in science infrastructure across the country, allowing unprecedented public access to cutting edge research labs, as well as interactive experiments and activities for all ages and intellects. From the chemistry of ice-cream to the physics of rock and roll, Science Rendezvous has something for everyone!
Attendees will have a chance to get their hands on science with over 10,000 demos and exhibitions. Scientists and researchers from thirty of Canada’s top universities and research institutions will be on hand to answer your science questions and present explosive experiments!
FESTIVAL ACTIVITIES INCLUDE:
Walk on Water It’s true! If you believe in science you can walk on water! Walk across a non-Newtonian Fluid Pool at Yonge & Dundas Square and many other Science Rendezvous event sites across the GTA, but be careful: go too slowly and you’ll sink!
Real-Life Crime Scene Investigation Participants will use DNA and blood splatter analysis to solve a simulated crime scene! Move over Dexter and CSI, Science Rendezvous is taking over! Discover the exciting science of forensics at the University of Toronto Mississauga and UOIT sites.
Robot Mania! The Sumo Robots are back! From Yonge-Dundas Sqaure, in the heart of Toronto, Science Rendezvous presents Canada’s grittiest machine-vs-machine combat! Watch our competitors demolish their way to victory, or get in on the action yourself and play one-on-one basketball against a robot free-throw champion at the University of Windsor! What else were you going to do with your Saturday?
Science Rendezvous is now in its fifth year and aims to raise awareness about the country’s large, active and leading-edge scientific and research community while re-invigorating a sense of scientific curiosity among our nation’s youth.
Who: Science Rendezvous presenters Members of the public
When: Saturday, May 12, 11:00 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Where: Various locations throughout the Canada Main activities to be held at Toronto’s Yonge-Dundas Square (1 Dundas Street East Toronto, Ontario, M5B 2R8) Members of the media are asked to check in at the Science Rendezvous registration desk located near the stage at the rear of Yonge-Dundas Square.
Sponsors include: The University of Toronto, Ryerson University, York University, The University of Ontario Institute of Technology, the City of Toronto, The University of Windsor, The University of Ottawa, Navigator Ltd., Carleton University, The University of Regina, The University of Winnipeg, The University of Manitoba, Queen’s University, The University of Toronto Mississauga, The University of Toronto Scarborough, The Royal Canadian Institute for the Advancement of Science, Victoria University, George Brown College, Ontario Genomics Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital, and SickKids.
-30- For more information, please contact:
Kelsey Miller Science Rendezvous 647-770-7207 [email protected]
On Saturday, please call 647-770-7207 and ask to speak to the Public Affairs staff member on call.
ABOUT SCIENCE RENDEZVOUS: Science Rendezvous is an annual one-day festival celebrating Canadian science and engineering. Founded in 2008 by Prof. R.J. Dwayne Miller at the University of Toronto, Science Rendezvous now partners with nearly 40 of Canada’s top universities and research institutions to present a coordinated network of science outreach activities across the country on one single day. Science Rendezvous is run by 4,000 youth volunteers and nearly 2,000 scientists and researchers at our partner institutions, which open their doors as a part of this ground breaking platform for public engagement with science. For more information on Science Rendezvous, please visit www.sciencerendezvous.ca or contact Kelsey Miller at 647-770-7207.
FOUNDER’S BIO: Science Rendezvous founder and Chair of the Board of Directors, Prof. R. J. Dwayne Miller is an internationally recognized researcher, having published over 185 research articles, one book, and several reviews. His research accomplishments have been recognized with an A.P. Sloan Fellowship, Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, Guggenheim Fellowship, Presidential Young Investigator Award, Polanyi Award, Rutherford Medal in Chemistry, and numerous named lectureships. He was inducted as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1998. He currently holds the Distinguished Faculty Research Chair in Chemical and Biological Physics and is Founding Director of the Institute for Optical Sciences at the University of Toronto. He was appointed as a University Professor at the University of Toronto in 2008, a rank reserved for less than 2% of the faculty. He was awarded the Chemical Institute of Canada (CIC) Medal in 2009, the highest honour within the CIC. In 2010, he took up the position as Director of the Max Planck Group in Atomically Resolved Dynamics, at the Centre for Free Electron Laser Science/DESY. However, Prof. Miller considers one of his greatest achievements to be the receipt of the McNeil Medal for the promotion of science from the Royal Society for his work in founding Science Rendezvous.
IMPORTANCE OF WOMEN IN SCIENCE: Science Rendezvous is always scheduled to be held on the day before Mother’s Day to place an emphasis on the importance of women in science, and provide an educational, free activity for this family-oriented holiday. As an integral component to the festival, many Mother’s Day themed activities, including Historical Figures of Women in Science, and Liquid Nitrogen Flowers highlight the important role that women play in the sciences.