Maker Kits

Explore creativity in materials research using your very own Maker Kit that's full of surprises to get your creativity flowing!

The Maker Kit project aims to deliver public engagement activities which embrace creativity and creative thinking to allow young people and families to explore innovation in material design. Using the Bragg Centre for Materials
Research at the University of Leeds as a platform, the project builds on the culture of collaborative projects
we have established through the EPSRC funded Bragg Centre Creative Labs, connecting engineers and artists to work together and explore innovation in materials design. Creative connections provide a powerful opportunity for engineers to share the creativity and imagination of their materials research with the public.

Our goals are to support (i) connectivity, building networks between engineers and young people and their families; encouraging participation and involvement, (ii) Enlightenment: Inspiring wonder, curiosity and learning; meaning and sense making and (iii) Innovation, new ways of thinking and acting; new products and knowledge; creating, galvanising change.

Crystal Creations

Create the repeating pattern of a crystal structure! The science behind this maker kit is all about how things in the world around us are...

Spooky Spiders

Create your own spooky spider and learn about thermochromic materials Thermochromic liquid crystals. Liquid crystals are fluids in which...

Extreme Water

Life Needs Water All life is made up of the same fundamental biomolecular building blocks: lipids, that form cell membranes and isolate...

Creating rainbows

Explore the properties of light using diffraction glasses. Diffraction glasses split white light into its rainbow of colours. Use the...

Self-avoiding walks

Explore self-avoiding random walks using hand embroidery. A self-avoiding walk (SAW) is a sequence of moves on a grid that does not visit...

Monster Slime

Create your own slime and explore the properties of matter.

Wobbly Jelly

Make your own jelly and explore what makes it wobble. Jelly is a NETWORK made up of water and tiny wriggly strings (POLYMERS). In warm...

Paper networks

Explore mechanically & chemically processed cellulose fibres in paper using a craft-based activity and inspired by images from scanning...

Network formation

Explore network formation and fractal dimensions using a crystal Maker Kit. More info to follow soon!

The Art of Networks

Budding artists and scientists alike, join us for this live make-along to discover a world where science and art collide and make a...

#SAWstitch

A self-avoiding walk (SAW) is a sequence of moves on a grid that does not visit the same point more than once. SAWs are used to study how...

Random walks

A random walk involves moving in steps in an entirely random direction to a new location and repeating this process over and over. Random...

The project is supported by the Royal Academy of Engineering through their Ingenious Public Engagement awards which aim to engage the public with an exciting variety of engineering themes. With topics ranging from engineering solutions to the global climate emergency to engineering bedtime stories for young children, the projects will work with diverse audiences across the UK, igniting interest in the wonders of engineering to help inspire the next generation of engineers. The Ingenious programme offers grants to support creative public engagement with engineering projects while providing engineers with skills and opportunities to share their stories, passion and expertise with the public.