For the third year in a row, Campus Gandia UPV is pooling its scientific and teaching expertise with the CEIC Alfons el Vell and the Universitat de València to host Gandia Science Week, from November 4th to 8th. This is the 15th edition of the Science Week hosted by the Campus.
On this occasion, the program includes conferences at the Casa de Cultura de Gandia, open to the general public, as well as workshops, talks and exhibitions at different venues in Gandia, aimed in particular at students from local primary and secondary schools. Admission to activities that are not listed as “open” is already closed, as the groups have been filled up.
Young people will learn to make a fossil, print in 3D, make interactive flowers, learn about ultrasound and how they apply to the industry and the manufacture of airplanes. They will discover the relationships between mathematics and arts, such as music, with drawing and with magic…
For Jesús Alba, director of Campus Gandia of the Universitat Politècnica de València, it is a pleasure to participate in an initiative such as this that aims to make science and technology accessible to the public, especially to younger people. “We want them to feel the excitement of discovering and creating and learning about the possibilities that science and technology offer to improve the lives of people and the planet.”
Gandia Science Week is sponsored by the Gandia Smart Tourism Chair, the IVIO Chair, with the partnership of the Gandia City Council and the support of the Campus Innovation Chair, among other organizations.
Teaching staff, research staff, administration and services staff and students of the Campus are all collaborating to organize this Science Week and also of the following activities:
Environmental Education Workshops
Paloma Herrera, research professor in Environmental Sciences at the Universitat Politècnica de València (Campus of Gandia), coordinates the workshops prepared by her Environmental Education students and that will be held at the Casa de Cultura de Gandia:
- For our planet: Simulation of the greenhouse effect through the use of recycled material; Crafts related to renewable energy.
- Theater/Escape Room: They stole the 4 seasons!Games and challenges related to climate change.
- Energy and the greenhouse effect: Trying to trap CFCs
- Climate puzzle: Game about the causes and consequences of global warming.
3D printing workshop
Professor Tomás Sogorb and laboratory technician, Antoni Bou, will teach 3D printing techniques, a technology that allows the creation of three-dimensional objects by successively adding material layer by layer. Students sill be able design their own objects and see how they are printed.
Workshop: Do spirits exist?
Researcher Juan Carlos Rodríguez and Lab Technician Enrique Spath are in charge of the workshop titled “Do spirits exist?”, where we will discover the physical characteristics of sound and why some are audible and others are not. Experiments with different sound frequencies will be conducted and a binaural recording will be heard. The anechoic and reverberation acoustic chambers of the Campus will also be visited.
Workshop: Ultrasonic inspection of materials
Researcher Josep Rodríguez Sendra will lead this workshop, organized with the support of professor Francisco Camarena, and where the participants will learn about the physical characteristics of ultrasound and its multiple applications in medicine, in industry, etc. Students will be able to use ultrasound instruments to measure distances and learn how to apply them, for example, to find defects in airplanes, in industrial parts
Workshop: The art of traditional fishing and the adaptation of fish and marine organisms
Why do fish look and behave the way they do? How have they adapted to their environment? In this workshop, organized by eesearcher Miguel Rodilla, we can feel and see marine organisms and fish from the coast of Gandia, their physical characteristics and their functions. We will also learn about the art of traditional fishing used by the fishermen at the Gandia fishing harbor.
Conference: The problem of trash in nature (basuraleza), possible solutions. Free admission.
On Tuesday, November 5, at 11.30 a.m., Aida Fernando from Ecoembes will offer the conference titled “The problem of trash in nature (basuraleza), possible solutions”. We refer to “basuraleza” as the waste generated by human beings and left behind in nature, that disturbs the balance of nature. The conference is open to the general public and will be held in Conference Room 1 of Campus Gandia.
Exhibition:: Libera. United against trash in the nature (basuraleza). Free admission.
This exhibition, designed by Ecoembes, is open to the public from November 1st to 15th in the Campus exhibition hall (in front of the Conference Hall), from 9 am to 8 pm.
Workshop: Interactive flowers
Professor Asunción Pérez is in charge of this workshop where students will learn to program and build robot-flowers that interact with the environment, moving with sound or reacting to contact and light. Interactivity is the basis of many of the devices that are currently used: windshield wipers that are activated by rain, street lights that turns on when it gets dark, etc.. Professor Mª José Canet will collaborate in these workshops, which form part of the initiative launched by the Campus Innovation Chair aimed at transferring this knowledge to local secondary education institutions.
Fractal workshop: Drawing with math
Professor Anna Vidal will teach this workshop where students will become fascinated by fractal drawing with mathematics. Fractals are infinitely complex patterns that are self-similar across different scales: that is, if we expand the object, we will always see the same pattern repeated. Nature is full of fractals: fern leaves, rays, peacock feathers, snowflakes, etc.. In addition to creating impressive drawings – that students will be able to create in the workshop- fractals have been used in to design more efficient antennas.
Conference by “Ana Delgado Portela”, the laboratory named after her and inauguration of an urban art mural. Free admission.
“Ana Delgado Portela” is the name that will be given to the Acoustic Chambers of the Campus Gandia of the UPV, in an initiative that we launched last year to name the laboratories of the Campus after relevant female scientist, and thus give visibility to women in science.
On Thursday, November 7, at 1:00 p.m., Ana Delgado will give a talk at the Campus Gandia, in an event accompanied by authorities.
Ana Delgado is an expert in Architectural and Environmental Acoustics. She is in charge of drafting the Basic Document for Protection Against Noise of the Technical Building Code and member of the Working Groups of the Royal Decrees for the development of the Noise Law in the Ministry of Environment. She is a representative of the Ministry of Housing and the Spanish Acoustics Society in many forums in this area. She is the director of the Scientific Journal of Acoustics and editor of publications of the Spanish Society of Acoustics, such as the collection of books “Temas de Acústica” (Acoustic Issues).
In addition to the acoustic rooms, we will also inaugurate a mural dedicated to Ana Delgado, created by the urban artist Flug (Sergio Terrones), graduate of the Universitat Politècnica de València.
Conference: “The impact of noise pollution on our lives, can we mitigate it? Free admission.
Ana Delgado Portela will give this conference, open to the public, at the Casa de Cultura de Gandia, on Thursday, November 7 at 7:30 p.m. She will be introduced by Romina del Rey, research professor at the UPV.
Conference – Inauguration of the Exhibition “One world, 7 challenges.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in rural India”, through the Vicente Ferrer Foundation.
On Thursday, November 7, at 12.30 pm, in Conference Room 1, a representative of the Vicente Ferrer Foundation will inaugurate this exhibition and give a talk about its contents.
Exhibition – Inauguration of the Exhibition “One world, 7 challenges.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in rural India”‘, through the Vicente Ferrer Foundation. Free admission
The exhibition, located in the Campus Classrooms from November 4 to 28, focuses on the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, via the experience of the Vicente Ferrer Foundation during its 50 years of work in rural India. It is open to the public from 9.00 a.m. to 8.00 p.m. This activity has been made possible thanks to the Cooperation Commission of the campus.
Show: “Science or magic?”. Free admission.
Jaime Gómez – Hernández, magician and professor at the Universitat Politècnica de València (in that order, he tells us), offers the show “Science or 
magic?” in the Conference Room 1 of Campus Gandia. He will show us how we can do magic using mathematics with the help of a deck of cards. The show is scheduled for Friday, November 7 at 11:30 a.m.
Activities organized by the Library-CRAI of the Campus Gandia
The Library – CRAI have created a bibliographical selection on scientific dissemination, which can be consulted throughout the month of November in the hall of the Campus Gandia Library.
La Biblioteca – CRAI organiza también un curso de formación para personal investigador del Campus sobre “Web of Science”, una de las principales plataformas de publicaciones científicas. It is scheduled for Wednesday, October 23 from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 p.m.
Science Week is coordinated Pilar Sánchez, Luis Miret, Enric Marco and Sandra Barrancos. We hope you like it!
