Science Museum from electrical engineering major

Sunni's reflections on The Science Museum

The Science Museum has been the best place in London that I have found to be relevant to my major (Computer and Electrical Engineering). Last week, I talked about the Alan Turing exhibit, which I would say is more closely related to my computer engineering classes. However, because I am a double major, I found a completely different exhibit that was an example of my electrical engineering major.

The energy exhibit explored different types of energy sources that we use, both renewable and non-renewable, and related the topics to providing energy to the United Kingdom. Back at NCSU, I had completed a small undergraduate research program with FREEMD- an NSA funded research group on Centennial Campus that is dedicated to creating a new power grid, or “smart grid.” The basic idea is that our current power system in the United States will not be able to handle the large demand that new technologies, such as electric cars, will put on it. So a new system is needed for the future.

This exhibit also talked about the demands on the power system, but it was fascinating to hear about it from the perspective of a foreign country. The United Kingdom has different problems that will require different solutions, even though the overall technologies may be the same.

The coolest part of the exhibit was an interactive game that allowed you to act as the Minister of Energy for the United Kingdom and build new types of power plants as the demand for energy rose. You would run into all sorts of economic, social, and political problems as the game progressed. I think that point is not to try and win, but to see all of the current issues and how difficult the situation may be for the people involved.