Cambridge Society for Materials

Lecture Room 4, Department of Engineering, Trumpington Street, CB2 1PZ

The Cambridge Society for Materials is hugely excited to welcome Dr Anna Ploszajski to speak at our inaugural event! Join us from 6pm to hear her talk, entitled "A Materials Science and Making Odyssey", followed by time for questions and networking.
Tickets are free; please register at lu.ma/vjk8fuhw

A Materials Science and Making Odyssey Anna Ploszajski was just your average materials scientist, going about her life in the lab putting theory and formulae to the findings in front of her. But one day, she smashed a very expensive test-tube (who hasn’t?) and took it to the glassblower to be fixed. She stood, transfixed, as this master craftsperson coaxed the gooey not-quite-liquid into the repair, and at once had a crushing realisation; she’d been calling herself an expert in materials, and yet knew nothing of how glass behaves under the hand, or how to forge an iron bar, or shape a spinning ball of clay. An unknown parallel material world opened up to her - and that was the realm of the craftspeople. This set her off on a journey of discovery; she interviewed over ninety makers, artists, movers and shakers about the materials that made them tick; silversmiths, wood carvers, bakers, knitters, tanners, embroiderers, jewellers, enamelers, dentists, conservators and makers of wigs, glues, paints, watches, dyes, paper, lime, slime, trumpets and more. She learnt to speak their language, heard the stories of lives touched by each of these substances and, by getting her hands very dirty and at one point quite badly cut, finally found the true meaning of materials through making. Join Anna on this craft odyssey as she recounts a scientists’ adventure through the world of materials and making. Will it be sciency? Yes. Is it overly-ambitious? Probably. Will you come away having ordered a sewing machine and a full suede welding suit? Only time (and coming along) will tell. Who is Dr Anna Ploszajski? Dr Anna Ploszajski is a materials scientist, storyteller, author, podcaster, speaker, presenter, trainer, trumpeter, English Channel swimmer, feminist, knitter, walker and border collie dog mum, originally from Bedford, now settled in Walthamstow, East London. It’s her professional mission to engage underserved communities with science and engineering through storytelling; her debut popular science book, Handmade: A Scientist’s Search for Meaning Through Making was published by Bloomsbury Sigma in 2021. Having developed her own unique blend of autobiographical science writing, she founded Storyology Ltd. to train scientists, engineers, researchers and techy people in storytelling to help them communicate what they do better. She leads research into the intersection between story and science at University of the Arts London. She is also the founder of Absolute Zero, a collective of experimental science writers. Oh, and it’s pronounced “Por-shy-ski”. Anna's book is available here: www.amazon.co.uk/Handmade-Scientists-Search-Meaning-through/dp/1472971086/ About the venue: Lecture Room 4 is within the University of Cambridge's Department of Engineering. It is on the ground floor of the Baker Building, and can be accessed by a step-free route.
   

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