MadLab Australia

Contact: Adam Selinger   Tel: 0417 690 423   Email: adam@madlab.org

MadLab has branched out into the southern hemisphere! The complete range of MadLab kits is now available throughout Australia and New Zealand, in the following ways:

Special events

MadLab has been consistently pulling crowds at the Edinburgh International Science Festival for more than fifteen years, so it's no surprise that it now features at science festivals and fun days in Australia and New Zealand. It runs on a drop-in basis, keeps participants of all ages engrossed for about an hour, and because there are so many different kits to make, people come back again and again.

Science centres

The hands-on appeal and sustained focus of a MadLab workshop makes it the perfect complement to the interactive exhibits of most science centres. Run it as a visiting event for a week or a month, as an extra enticement for regular visitors; or as a regular weekly offering, to allow die-hard MadLab enthusiasts to come back again and again.

At school or club nights

Order the kits to use in your regular science lessons, or ask us to send an experienced MadLabber to run workshops as a special event. MadLab is also a great event for Double Helix clubs, scout/guide groups, and other clubs.

At home

Anyone with their own soldering iron can order MadLab kits through our mail order catalogue.

What's MadLab?

MadLab began over fifteen years ago in Scotland, when two canny lads set about demystifying electronics. They designed a range of circuits that absolutely anyone could turn into a functional gadget (such as a Lie Detector, Insectoid, or Sonar Explorer -- click here for the full list of MadLab kits) given the appropriate components, a soldering iron and some friendly supervision. "Anyone" includes the hundreds of 5-60 year olds who queue up to make the latest gadget in the MadLab range each year at the Australian Science Festival.

If you're new to the idea of MadLab, you can find out more on the MadLab UK site.

The Australian chapter so far...

MadLab's first Australian event was the Australian Science Festival, in April 1996; and we're pleased to have been back to every ASF since. We've run sessions at science centres including Questacon - The National Science and Technology Centre in Canberra, Adelaide's Investigator Centre, and Perth's Discovery Centre. MadLab has also visited schools and festivals in New Zealand.

Look out for MadLab at:

• Lab Rats from www.TerrificScientific.com
• MadLab plus Time Detectives at Sydney Observatory
• MadLab school workshops from CSIRO Education

Why not have a MadLab birthday at your place? Call Adam on 0417 690 423 for details (Sydney Metropolitan only).

MadLab has been to many places:

• MadLab soldering masterclass at Kids Universe
• University of Tasmania
• Australian Science Festival
• Science in the City
• Sasol SciFest
• Museum of Transport & Technology
• Southern Cross University, part of National Science Week
• "Lab Rats" in Annandale Sydney, presented by Terrific Scientific - check website for school holiday events
• MadLab also participates in schools enrichment days, 'science birthday' parties and university open days

How do I book MadLab?

If you are interested in staging a MadLab workshop at your science centre, festival, fun day, or school, MadLab Australia can either provide a complete workshop service including trained helpers, or we can supply MadLab kits, equipment and expertise for you to run the workshop yourself. Contact us (details below) to discuss the options available to you.

If you would like to order a MadLab kit to build at home, click here.

Our contact details are:

MadLab Science Birthdays Now Available in Sydney! Call Adam to discuss.

Want MadLab to come to your school?

If you're in Sydney contact:

Some photographs of MadLab in Australia. Click on each thumbnail for a bigger image.