Industry leaders launch national touring science exhibition

The Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT), the MacDiarmid Institute, the Dodd Walls Centre, and Otago Museum are proud to announce the launch of their national science exhibition MIGHTY SMALL MIGHTY BRIGHT.

The exhibition will tour throughout New Zealand and is designed to inspire the next generation of kiwi science superstars.

Visitors will be able to try their hand at experiments that demystify the scientific principles of photonics, advanced materials and nanotechnology while also exploring examples of the many innovations our New Zealand scientific community have already developed and which are helping to improve our daily lives and our wider economy.

Over the last four months, while on show at MOTAT, 18,837 children from more than 250 schools across Auckland visited MIGHTY SMALL MIGHTY BRIGHT. The exhibition was also a popular focal point for families visiting MOTAT during the weekend and the school holidays.

But now it’s time to take this highly interactive exhibition around New Zealand - and the first stop on the MIGHTY SMALL MIGHTY BRIGHT tour will be Te Manawa Museum in Palmerston North where it open in November and will remain on show throughout the summer.

“We’re really excited to be the first stop on the MIGHTY SMALL MIGHTY BRIGHT tour,” Te Manawa Chief Executive Andy Lowe says.

“As a Museum and Science Centre in a city of innovation, we have a keen audience of inquisitive young minds ready to get hands-on with technology!”

The creation of MIGHTY SMALL MIGHTY BRIGHT has been a rewarding project for all involved.

For the team at MOTAT, collaborating with the MacDiarmid Institute, the Dodd Walls Centre, and Otago Museum has been a perfect fit and professionally exciting for the museum staff involved.

“We are thrilled to have been able to contribute our exhibition design expertise to help make these powerful scientific ideas more accessible” said Steven Fox, MOTAT General Manager of Museum Experience.

“Our museum is committed to inspiring young Kiwi innovators, and by working with these respected research bodies we are now able to reach young Kiwis throughout the country.”

All the partners involved in the MIGHTY SMALL MIGHTY BRIGHT exhibition are united in their goal of inspiring our next generation of science superstars and industry leaders.

“For the Dodd-Walls Centre and our colleagues at Otago Museum we are delighted to see how our original small-scale science showcase concept has now been developed into this major national exhibition.

MIGHTY SMALL MIGHTY BRIGHT will bring science to your community, your families, and it makes it fun and hands-on,” explains Professor David Hutchinson, Director of the Dodd-Walls Centre.

“We hope all visitors will leave MIGHTY SMALL MIGHTY BRIGHT having learnt a little and having been inspired a lot. Science is for everyone. Enjoy!”

For MacDiarmid Institute Co-Directors Associate Professor Nicola Gaston and Professor Justin Hodgkiss, being part of this national initiative means having a chance to showcase just how vital materials science is to the world around us, from flexible solar panels and superconductors, to anti-bacterial silver particles.

“MIGHTY SMALL MIGHTY BRIGHT shows how science translates from the lab to the marketplace. There are real-life examples of hi-tech materials science underpinning industry in New Zealand. This exhibition will help keep young people throughout the country inspired to keep on with science and become part of the hi-tech economy.”

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