STEM workshops at the Infinity Festival in Garešnica
11/06/2021/
FabLab representatives are today running STEM popularisation workshops in Garešnica as part of the Garešnica Infinity Festival. The event is organised by the city of Garešnica, the Northern Moslavina Tourist Board, the „August Šenoa“ secondary school of Garešnica and the Professor Balthazar Association. This is a project whose main aim is to popularise science among preschool and school-age children. The organisers found their reason for starting the project in the fact that space and music are both infinite, and in an original way they brought together two world-famous people who were born in Garešnica itself. Probably few people know that Ivo Robić, one of the greatest singers and composers, was born in Garešnica in 1923. He played five instruments, composed more than 100 pieces, was the first Croatian musician to build a major international career and the only one from this region ever to appear, with the song Morgen, on the Billboard and New Musical Express charts. He sold more than a million copies of the Morgen record, which earned him the nickname Mister Morgen. To this day that remains the greatest commercial success achieved by any Croatian musician. In much the same way, almost everyone knows the phrase „Houston, we have a problem“. But few people know that the problem was solved by Mike Vucelić, who was also born in Garešnica, in 1930. He was a mechanical engineer and scientist and one of the key figures of the American Apollo space programme. He held senior technical positions and led the team of experts involved in the design, testing and construction of the command module. For that achievement he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest American civilian honour, presented to him by President Nixon. After Apollo he was a very successful innovator and entrepreneur, and he always enjoyed returning to Croatia. At around ten interactive workshop stations there is great interest from kindergarten and school children, as the photos show. We are delighted to be popularising science!