Mark Shuttleworth, South African entrepreneur and philanthropist, recently visited King William’s College to talk to students about maths and science. This will be the first of his many visits to the Island’s schools to spread the word about how interesting these two subjects can be.
Mark gave an engaging presentation sharing details of his various personal experiences. As the second space tourist having spent 10 days in space, he gave a direct account of his experience and animatedly illustrated the usefulness of maths and science. He explained interesting concepts such as how parabolas are used to create a zero gravity experience in aeroplanes and the forces that keep the space station in orbit. A host of questions followed his presentation from how to use a toilet in space to how to start a career in space.
Mr. Shuttleworth motivated the students towards studying and following their interests and stressed that anyone can be a success in whatever they do as long as they love what they do. As founder of the Shuttleworth Foundation, Ubuntu and ‘Hip2B2’, an interactive maths and science programme, Mr. Shuttleworth devotes a lot his time to making maths and science cool.
King William’s College students and staff were a captivated audience. Duncan Matthews, Head of Maths at King William’s College reflected on the presentation: “The talk by Mark Shuttleworth was excellent. Students were really interested in what he had to say and some remarked to me that they would like to interview him further. This is a great opportunity for both King William’s College and other schools on the Island to get students interested in maths and science. I thank him for taking the time to visit us and hope we will get the chance to meet him again.”
Mr. Shuttleworth now resides in the Isle of Man and works on several projects related to maths, science and IT. He plans to visit the rest of the schools throughout 2011 for which dates will be confirmed in the New Year.
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Tuesday 11th, January 2011 09:04pm.
