Excursions during the conference
Marie and Pierre Curies to be, we are pleased to announce the available excursions during the our conference. Here is a quick recap of what the excursion choices are:
Option 1: METOFFICE & Ħaġar Qim
The Metrology office, located within the Luqa Airport you will be arriving in, provides a range of comprehensive and authoritative products and services. Basically the weather, Marine forecasts, Satellite and radar data and a bunch of other vital information is measured here. This is definitely a treat for you meteorology nerds.
Ħaġar Qim on the other hand is the cultural visit and is truly one of the most unique things you’ll see in the world. It’s like a small Stonehenge but much older. Seriously, between 100-900 years older. They’re older than the pyramids and the Maltese temples are considered to be the second oldest man-made structures ever. Let that sink in.
Option 2: MCCAA – Metrology Directorate & Maritime Museum
The Metrology Directorate labs at Kordin are made up of a group of smart people who measure and calibrate Mass, Pressure, Length, Temperature, Electricity, Humidity, Time and Frequency for scientific instruments in Malta.
The Maritme Museum lies in an old naval bakery in Vittoriosa and illustrates the seafaring history of the Maltese islands, from prehistory to the present day. So … the Napoleonic figurehead from a 110 gun ship, a 1950s steam engine, cannons. Feel like a pirate for a day!
Option 3: Life Sciences Park & Ghar Dalam
The Malta Life Sciences Park is a collection of start-up and existing businesses geared towards advanced pharmaceutical research and business development. The main ideology of this entrepreneurial concept is for science companies to cooperate and share ideas and is built next to the university for that particular reason.
In Ghar Dalam you will find one of the oldest caverns in the island exhibiting fossils of dwarf elephants, birds, and hippopotami. This is the closest thing Malta has to a paleontological site and is definitively a must for fossil and geology geeks.
Option 4: Sentech Malta FP Ltd & Natural History Museum in Mdina
Sentech Malta FP Ltd is a small company founded in 2008 manufacturing Fibre Optic Gyroscopes (FOGs). These gyroscopes have no moving parts and no inertial resistance to movement making them extremely reliable and also incredibly cool. They have manufacturings sites spanning 2,300 m2 in collaboration with Fizoptika.
Mdina is known as the silent city and they plan to keep it that way (seriously, they will kick you out if you’re too noisy) and was the island’s capital up until 1530. Unfortunately, only 1530’s kids will remember this. One of the stops will be the natural history museum which contains numerous animal species, a collection of birds, various minerals, fossils, the largest Maltese squid and much more.
Option 5: Mater Dei Hospital & Palace Armory in Valletta
The Mater Dei Hospital is a delight for medical physics enthusiasts. The Maltese healthcare system boasts on being the second best in the world according to the WHO. In it nuclear medicine (diagnostic and therapeutic), diagnostic radiography, and radiotherapy are practiced.
The capital city Valletta was built by the Order of St John which were the hospitallers offshoot of the Knights Templar. Yes, it’s that awesome! There you will see one of the largest collection of arms and armour in the world, all within their original building left by grandmasters of the Order.
Option 6: Diagnostic Science Libraries & the Three Cities
The Diagnostic Science Laboratories (DSL) is a company with a primary goal of making sure that appropriate action is taken when it comes to art, architectural and cultural preservation. They employ scientists qualified in composition of materials, authentication and identification of historical artefacts.
Vittoriosa, Cospicua and Senglea also known as Birgu, Bormla and Isla are three cities which stood the test of time on the island. Harbouring great ports, these cities have been popularly used since Phoenician times. They also gained favour amongst the Knights of St John providing life and energy to them when the found Mdina too quite for their tastes.
Option 7: MEPA Zejtun Air Quality Station & Tas-Silġ ruins at Dellimara
MEPA is the organisation responsible in planning, authorisation and environmental planning in Malta. They’re the people everyone goes to whenever they need something built. They’re also responsible for the monitoring of air pollution in ambient outdoor air. This Zejtun station is one of the 5 stations in charge of real time air quality.
Tas-Silg ruins get their name from the nearby Church of the Lady of Snows. It comprises of archaeological excavations with finds from several eras spanning from the Neolithic to the forth century CE. It’s oldest ruins are from 3000-2500 years ago and several peoples or different eras reused the settlements and left behind unique artefacts.
Option 8: Methode Electronics & Natural Museum of Fine Arts in Valletta
Methode Electronics is an American corporation with the intent purpose of engineering and manufacture. They’ve done some pretty neat stuff ranging from using human skin structure for biometric identification to solid state touch sensitive switches. The Maltese buildings are located in Mriehel which we will visit.
The National Museum of Fine Arts has collections since as far back as the Order of St John. It boasts with the largest collection of Mattia Pretti, a renowned Sicilian artist, its selection of Baroque masterpieces, and the only water colour by Joseph Mallord William Turner. On a side note, it is surrounded by a selection of wine bars and cafes.
Option 9: Cisk Brewery & San Anton Gardens
Being a favourite of the people who’ve applied, the Farson’s Cisk Brewery produces the island’s most popular beer. The winner of several awards was originally brewed by Simonds Farsons Cisk Limited named after the man with the nickname Cisk given to him by people who couldn’t properly pronounce the word cheques.
San Anton Garden are located at Attard and are one of our most beautiful gardens surrounding the Maltese President’s palace. The gardens themselves hosts a variety of fountains, ponds, ducks, swans, and a wide selection of plants and flowers with some trees even being more than 300 years old.
Option 10 – National Museum of Archaeology in Valletta & Method Electronics
The National Museum of Archaeology lies in a old building built by the Knights of the Order who originated from France. It contains artefacts from as old as the neolithic period to the Phoenicians, displaying the earliest tools used by man and its highlights the “Sleeping Lady” and the “Venus of Mars”.
The Methode Electronics faculties will be available of a second group and will visit the site after the first group.
Option 11: Talk on water (Oceanography & Kayaking)
Ocean currents around the Maltese Islands play a fundamental role in the local marine health and nutrient transport for ecological and economic reasons. Sea kayaking in Malta and Gozo is one of the best ways to explore the natural beauty of the Maltese Island’s shoreline and observe such coastal dynamics very closely. Hence this ‘Talk on Water’, where Dr. Anthony Galea from the Physical Oceanography Research Group (within the Department of Geosciences, Faculty of Science of the University of Malta) will deliver a lecture on physical oceanography while kayaking along the hypnotizing Munxar cliffs. He will explain how through the CALYPSO project, a number of fully operational HF radars were installed on the northern Malta and southern Sicilian shores capable of recording (in real-time with hourly updates) surface currents in the Malta Channel. Collected data, combined to numerical models, support applications to optimise intervention in case of oil spill response as well as endow tools for search and rescue, security, safer navigation, improved metro-marine forecasts, monitoring of sea conditions in critical areas such as proximity to ports, and better management of the marine space between Malta and Sicily. The group paddle will start from the mesmerizing beach of St. Thomas Bay, kayak along the Munxar cliffs and dazzling Xrobb l-Għaġin from a unique perspective, till the notorious Il-Ħofra l-Kbira at the Eastern Coastline of Malta. A remarkable excursion to remember.
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