About Our Presenters & Speakers:

John Maher
John Maher has been building high performance VW air-cooled engines for over 25 years. His main interest is technical development and innovation. In the late '80s and early '90s he drag-raced VW Beetles, becoming the first person outside the USA to complete a standing start quarter mile in 10 seconds, with one of his non turbocharged engines. In 1984 he set a new world record in the VW Beetle engine change competition, removing and re-installing the engine in 1 minute 16 seconds - a record which still stands today. John also represented Great Britain in the 1998 San Diego 'X'-Games Street Luge competition using a self-designed and constructed board.

Prior to setting up his engine building business, John toured the world as the drummer with UK punk band Buzzcocks. Later this year, the original members are due to reunite for a couple of one-off shows in Manchester and London.

In 2002 John moved from his home town of Manchester to the Isle of Harris. In the past couple of years John has also been making a name for himself as a night photographer, aka 'The Flying Monk'. His long exposure, moonlit images of the Outer Hebrides attract customers from around the globe. He continues to supply custom built engines from his Leverburgh based engineering workshop.
www.johnmaherracing.co.uk

Mr Boom
Mr Boom will land the spaceship Imagination at the Bridge Centre, and will entertain younger children with his songs and games about science. Come along and join him on the moon!
www.mrboom.co.uk

Dr Richard Milne Climate Change - science vs opinion
Dr Richard Milne presents Critical Thinking on Climate Change: separating scepticism from denial. It is a very thought provoking and highly entertaining lecture with lots of laughs thrown in!

Richard Milne is a lecturer in plant science,School of Biological Sciences, Edinburgh University. He has won two awards for his teaching, voted for by students across the University, for Innovative Teaching (2009) and overall performance (2010). He was also shortlisted for the UK-wide Bioscience Teacher of the Year award in 2011.

Stornoway Astronomical Society
SAS will be running a number of events, including a planetarium show, astronomy lecture, moon rocks display, telescope demo, observing evening, solar system in the castle grounds, a telescope raffle and a competition to win a book about the solar system. There will also be a space art exhibition in An Lanntair.
www.stornowayastro.org

Explore Science Scotland
Explore Science Scotland is a local business based in Tong and run by Kirsty MacLeod. Kirsty produces science activity packs and resources for teachers, and does workshops in schools and pre-schools. She will be doing activities in a number of schools, as well as at the Bridge Centre and the family fun days in Stornoway and Benbecula.
www.exploresciencescotland.co.uk

Philip Noble
Philip is an expert in creating giant bubbles, and complex bubble structures. He even has a PhD is Bubbleology, awarded by Tangent Toys in California! Philip will be doing workshops on soap bubbles in Barra, Benbecula and Stornoway, and making giant bubbles at the family fun days in Benbecula and Stornoway.
www.bubblestrings.net

WeatherEvents.net
This is a unique mobile weather forecasting service. WeatherEvents.net will be set up outside the science festival, providing live weather forecasting. Lews Castle College meteorologist Dr Edward Graham will also be on hand to answer your weather related questions.
www.weatherevents.net

Dr Edward Graham
Eddie is a meteorologist atLewsCastleCollege, and will be doing a talk for young primary children inBackSchool, and also running activities at the school event in the Bridge Centre. At the family fun day inStornowayTown Hall he will be working alongside WeatherEvents.net, answering all your weather related questions.

Scottish and Southern Energy power station tours
After running tours of the power station last year, which were thoroughly enjoyed by the pupils that took part, SSE will again be giving guided tours of the Stornoway power station for pupils aged P6 - S2.
www.scottish-southern.co.uk

Scottish Environmental Protection Agency
SEPA took part in the 2011 festival, and will again be running workshops in a couple of schools, as well as activities at the Bridge Centre, and on the town hall at the family fun day. This year's activities will involve examining bugs from the local area, so come along and have a look!
www.sepa.org.uk

Professor Martin Hendry
Martin Hendry is Professor of Gravitational Astrophysics and Cosmology at the University of Glasgow. His main research interests lie in measuring the size and geometry of the universe and in probing the nature of the mysterious dark matter and dark energy that appear to make up more than 95% of the cosmos. He is currently a 'Science in Society Fellow' for the UK's Science and Technology Facilities Council, leading an international proramme of outreach activities for schools and the public. In 2011 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in recognition of his outstanding contributions to research, teaching and public engagement in astronomy.