Students attend G20 Youth Forum, Russia
Relishing the opportunity to travel as part of their studies, three UWS students – Coral Yopp, Samantha Ewart and Taylor Macdonald – showcased their research at the G20 Youth Forum in Russia, which was held from 17 to 21 April. The forum brought together around 1500 young leaders, students and academics, businesspeople and government representatives.
Samantha, a PhD student who also received a Highly Commended Young Women of the West Award in 2012, was one of the lucky students selected to attend the forum. On the first day, Samantha presented her work on her Music Cubes Project (opens in a new window) at the G20 Youth Conference. The Music Cubes (also known as Audio Cubes) are small boxes illuminated in different colours that can detect and network with each other, as well as with people. The cubes form part of the University’s research into unique interactive technologies that effectively alleviate boredom and distract teenagers from medical procedures in hospital. The project is affiliated with the Young and Well Cooperative Research Centre.
“The presentation was well received and lots of questions were asked on the process and environment,” she says. This presentation led to Samantha being awarded Best Paper/Presentation in the Social Dimension stream at the conference.
One of the main drawcards of the forum is the networking opportunities presented to all attendees. And what better way to network than at the forum’s opening and closing balls, complete with Russian cuisine, dancing and music in palatial settings? “It was a great opportunity for all of the delegates in the room to get to know each other,” according to Samantha who got to put her dancing classes into good use.
“I was lucky enough to be introduced to some amazing academics, students and politicians from all over the world,” says Samantha. “One of whom was working in a similar field and wishes to stay in touch and another who was an inspiring entrepreneur.”
Samantha says the converging of young people, change makers, researchers and government officials in one place meant there was a diverse range of topics discussed. “There were many discussions in the fields of social dimension, politics and finance, law and legislation, innovation and technology,” says Samantha. “Everyone was passionate about addressing the problems of today to make a better tomorrow.”
Read more about the forum on the G20 Youth Forum website (opens in a new window) or on Samantha’s blog (opens in a new window), where you’ll also find more information about the Music Cube project.
