Institute of Making's First Birthday

A multidisciplinary research club for UCL staff and students ‘interested in the made world’, the Institute of Making is celebrating its birthday by holding an open afternoon. You’ll be able to watch ice cream being made with liquid nitrogen, play material-inspired party games, suspend helium balloons and learn the science behind making the perfect paper aeroplane.

Among the intriguing items in the Institute’s collection of weird and wonderful stuff are the Thermochromatic Brick (it changes colour when it comes in contact with heat) and Aerogel, a solid so light its weight can be supported by the flame of a Bunsen burner.

In a reversal of the usual birthday convention, the first 400 visitors will receive a gift.