Nerds who will change the world

(Letter published in RadCom, March 2015, p12)

I'm sure many of us watched the recent Royal Institution Christmas Lecture "Sparks Will Fly", presented by Danielle George the Professor of RF Engineering at Manchester University with great anticipation.  Over the course of three hours, she instilled into her young audience into thinking about "How the spark of your imagination and some twenty-first century tinkering can change the world".

I have followed these lectures for many years, and cannot think of any that have had more relevance to amateur radio, and after reading the article in the Guardian newspaper back on 19 August 2014 that described the series that promised to usher in a "new era of home experimentation", I was expecting to see some amateur radio involvement and content in the lectures.

I was very surprised to see that there was no mention of the series in RadCom or on the RSGB website in the lead up to Christmas, and was somewhat dismayed when there was no amateur radio content whatsoever.  This was evident when she opened her second lecture on communications with the question "With the ability to make video calls to anyone, anywhere, where could I possibly call that would amaze you?", and then showed a staged contact with the International Space Station using her iPhone.

I therefore feel that I must ask the question if anyone from the RSGB knew about these lectures and attempted to get involved?  If not, then this is particularly worrying when the board has selected 'Youth' as its focus for the future, and the involvement in such a high-profile event would have kick-started any planned activities.  And more so, does this also indicate that today's amateur radio is no longer relevant to University Science and Engineering Departments?

This brings me onto the subject of "tinkering" mentioned in the lecture series.  As many of you are aware, there is currently a peak in public interest in coding on such platforms as the Raspberry Pi and Arduino through the Maker movement, with many entry-level projects in magazines involving the use of radio technology such as RFID and ZigBee, to control home appliances.  I must ask two further questions?  Why aren't we promoting amateur radio as the enabling technology for schools STEM projects (Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics) such as High Altitude Balloons, and where is our equivalent of the Raspberry Pi that encourages people to tinker with amateur radio?

Meanwhile, the RSGB recently expressed its desire in its long-term plan that Members should "not be seen as nerds" and completely misses the zeitgeist for young people with scientific interests, who see this a badge of honour, and may well become our future engineers and scientists.

Whilst I can see that refocusing its strategy might present problems with the business model of the society, as it would have to look beyond it's consumer electronics focus and the revenue it brings from advertising, and enter the world described by Professor George, who ironically sees us as "coming through a period where everything was a black box, and people are starting to tinker again like the old ham radio enthusiasts"...

I must therefore ask the final question:  Who is going to represent the technical future of our hobby?