DCU TO HOST INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE HACK DAY 2013

DCU will host 36hrs of nonstop science hacking, idea mashing, problem solving fun.

Following its successful debut as part of Dublin City of Science in 2012, Dublin City University will host the second Science Hack Day from Saturday 2nd to Sunday 3rd March. Science Hack Day Dublin is an all-day-all-night event where scientists, engineers, programmers and designers join forces to find solutions (hacks) to scientific problems during a brief but intense period of collaboration (36 hours). It asks the question, 'If you had access to 100+ of Dublin's brightest creative brains, what problems would you choose to solve?'

Science Hack Day is about creating a physical space for scientists to collaborate with programmers, makers, hackers and designers. Whether is it visualising scientific data, improving hardware or reimagining research tools – the goal is to simply do science better. At its core, Science Hack Day is a social event, where disciplines mix and ideas breed. Dublin will once again show that it can mix technology and creativity on the scale (if not bigger) of the Science Hack Days previously hosted in London, San Francisco, Mexico City, Cincinnati, Cape Town Nairobi, Chicago, Houston and Eindhoven.

A "hack" is a quick solution to a problem – maybe not the most elegant solution, but often the cleverest. Last year's overall winner mixed education, exercise and technology in the form of an augmented reality treasure hunt based on the Periodic Table of the Elements. Other projects explored cognitive science, astronomy, injury rehabilitation, sports statistics and the visualization of stock markets.

Speaking at this year's launch event, Science Hack Day coordinator Dr. David McKeown said:

"We are looking to ignite the initial spark of innovation, where the only concern is creating something new and all other distractions are ignored. Science Hack Day gives people the chance to get excited about making things again, it is about being creative with science, about being social and working with new people with different skills."

Science Hack Day Dublin is being run as part of Engineers Week 2013 and relies on a large team of volunteers from different creative community groups (Dublin Mini Maker Faire, Dublin's Hackerspace TOG, Redbrick) and is coordinated by UCD Research Engineer Dr. David McKeown and DCU PhD candidate Alan Armstrong. Their hard work and the support of sponsors keep the event free and openly accessible.

Science Hack Day Dublin will take place in "The Hub" in Dublin City University on Saturday the 2nd and Sunday the 3rd of March, 2013.

The event is free but tickets must be booked in advance at
http://www.sciencehackdaydublin.com.
https://www.facebook.com/ScienceHackDayDublin?fref=ts
https://twitter.com/SciHackDay_Dub