Fusion at BME Children’s University

Posted: July 19, 2017/Under: Uncategorized/By: admin

(Written by Dr. Gergő Pokol and Mátyás Aradi)

Children’s University summer camp was organized at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME) from 26 June till 7 July 2017, which aims to promote engineering and natural sciences among elementary school children. The young students listened to lectures and participated at seminars where they could experience the life of a researcher. At the end of the camp, all schoolchildren took their well-earned diploma.

Gábor Náfrádi promotes fusion for elementary school children, photo: SPOT fotókör, spot.sch.bme.hu

Since 2016 the Fusion Research Group of the Hungarian Nuclear Society has been taking part, represented by staff of the Institute of Nuclear Techniques, BME (BME NTI) and Wigner Research Centre for Physics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. This year around 200 children of ages from 8 to 14 participated at the 8 fusion themed seminars.

fusion game Operation tokamak in operation, photo: SPOT fotókör, spot.sch.bme.hu

They were first acquainted with basics of nuclear fusion at a brief introductory lecture, then they participated in a practical training: they could walk around the ITER site in virtual reality, operate a future tokamak and experience the principle of magnetic confinement using a plasma discharge tube.