'The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams'

Running from 15 to 20 July 2024 the Festival featured an action-packed programme of free interactive events for the whole family, showcasing how UCL engineers are creating the future, in fields such as artificial intelligence, space exploration, robotics and medicine. 

Disability Innovation

During the Festival, the Global Disability Innovation Hub (GDI Hub) Academic Research Centre opened its lab to the public to present homegrown assistive and accessible technologies, while sharing its world leading expertise in disability innovation. From AI to the development of new assistive products, guests were able to find out about the new technologies emerging from the GDI Hub and its global programmes.

GDI Hub CEO, Iain McKinnon, took to the stage in the UCL East Marshgate lecture theatre for 'Spring into Stem' to share more on his journey from product design to inclusive design, and from Paralympic legacy to co-founding GDI Hub. Iain's talk looked to inspire future generations into pursuing STEM.

GDI Hub also organised 'Evolution of assistive technology’, a journey through time underscored by the continuous human effort to improve quality of life through innovation. Supported by Google and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the exhibition and showcase was a flagship event for the EPSRC-funded IPACT project, co-led by Dr Maryam Bandukda and Prof. Cathy Holloway.  

'Evolution of assistive technology’ attracted over 100 attendees from diverse age groups and backgrounds, including staff and students from east London schools, staff and students from across UCL, members of Newham council and residents. Displays included the invention of hearing and visual aids, visual impairment simulation glasses, 3D printed EdTech, Mobile phones as assistive technology, Upper and lower-limb prosthetics, AR for Neurosurgery and Dementia care, brain-computer interfaces for mental health and well-being, accessible and assistive technologies for gaming, and DIY 3D printing. Further details of the exhibition showcases are available on the project's website: https://www.diginclusion.org/.

The exhibition was led by Dr Maryam Bandukda and co-designed with staff, researchers and PhD students at GDI Hub, CS and UCLIC, including Aeesha Bhaiyat, Lan Xiao, Danny Steadman, Roxana Ramirez Herrera, Merlin Kelly, Andreas Polydorides, Zikun Quan, and Jitesh Joshi. The exhibition was also supported by Hans Zimmerman and Christopher Patnoe from Google. Additionally, a group of GDI Hub ICT Youth Ambassadors - youths with disabilities and minority ethnic backgrounds - worked with the team to bring their unique perspectives and enabled the design of the exhibition to be engaging for the younger audience. The ambassadors also co-designed the materials and showcased the exhibition artefacts to the attendees. 

Celebrating olfactory technology  

The Smell Care team, in collaboration with project partner OWidgets - Smell Made Digital, showcased their smell delivery device. The demos attracted hundreds of adult and young visitors in addition to industry and academia. Among the attendees were the Provost and President of UCL, who personally experienced digital smell training.

IXN for Good

Dr Sheena Visram looked back over the past five years of achievements by the IXN for Good initiative to empower charities with the art of the impossible. She spoke about working with NGOs and charities on topics such as poverty, zero hunger and climate change, in alignment with the Global Tech for Good movement and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A highlight in 2020 was a multi-country, series of educational hackathons on AI for Good, with a finale hosted at the Residences of the British Embassy in Paris, where UCL students competed on solutions that improved access to education, healthcare, and knowledge exchanges in developing countries.