Marvel Studios and the NHS seek to inspire budding technicians at London’s Science Museum

Technicians: The David Sainsbury Gallery opens on November 3, 2022 at the Science Museum in London, with the goal of encouraging young people to aspire to careers as technicians.

Marvel Studios and the U.K.’s National Health Service (NHS) are two of the organizations working with the Science Museum in South Kensington, London, to create an interactive gallery that celebrates the role of technicians.

Technicians: The David Sainsbury Gallery will feature one-of-a-kind interactive exhibits aimed at giving children ages 11-16 a hands-on experience of the tasks technicians perform each day, and the chance to meet real-life technicians during their visits to the gallery.

From archeological technicians to veterinary nurses and welding technicians, visitors can explore the settings in which technicians work, hear their stories, and try their hand at four key sectors: advanced manufacturing, creative industries, health science, and energy networks.

Marvel Studios will have a centerpiece reconstructed film set from the movie “Black Panther,” where youngsters can reenact the role of a film-set lighting technician, work as a post-production sound technician, and explore the precision used by visual effects technicians to integrate visual objects into footage from the film.

In the health sciences section of the gallery, which was inspired by the exterior of The Royal London Hospital, visitors can discover their inner pharmacy technician through analysis and measurement skills, performing duties that mimic life-saving tasks such as preparing an IV bag, pipetting, and checking medicines for contaminations.

NHS Aseptic Pharmacy Technician, Sujata Patel, said, “I work in a little-known part of pharmacy called ‘aseptics.’ We make life-saving chemotherapy for cancer patients, and intravenous nutrition for neonatal and adult patients, every day. The Technicians gallery will give us a unique opportunity to showcase the important work we do in the background at major hospitals. It’s been a great journey contributing to the gallery, and the team at the Science Museum have sought to really understand what we do, and have come up with amazing ways to bring the roles to life and depict the precision needed in this job. I’m sure the exhibits will inform, enlighten, and encourage people to pursue rewarding careers in many vital technical roles.”

In the energy networks section, a huge wind turbine model is on display, calling to mind the outdoors and extreme environments experienced by technicians who build, maintain, and repair energy networks. Visitors can play the role of a maintenance technician as they diagnose and solve problems relating to the model turbine.

They can also pilot a remotely operated vehicle to the ocean floor to clear obstructions from an underwater trench.

Other features include experimenting with coding to optimize the movements of a robotic arm, and then put it into action, and viewing a dismantled games console and a bespoke prosthetic leg made for a ballet dance by advanced manufacturing technicians at Imperial College London.

The gallery is free, and schools can book free, hands-on gallery workshops with real technicians when Technicians: The David Sainsbury Gallery opens on November 3.

For more information visit ScienceMuseum.org.uk.