Layout 2 - University of Central Lancashire

When science
and art collide
Pioneering analysis evaluates psychological expert
witnesses and quality of their reports in the family courts.
Albert Einstein once said the most beautiful
experience we can have is the mysterious -
the fundamental emotion which stands at
the cradle of true art and true science.
It is a view which perhaps best encapsulates the
experiences of over 400 people who flocked to
the University from far and wide to witness a
spectacular outdoor digital projection event called
‘Sunbeam’ during four nights in May 2011.
Having been inspired to include UCLan’s iconic
solar trackers at the centre of an art project,
Chris Meigh-Andrews, Professor of Electronic and
Digital Art, collaborated with UCLan’s Dr Robert
Walsh of the Jeremiah Horrocks Institute for
Astrophysics and Supercomputing to turn vision
into reality.
Professor Meigh-Andrews explained: “The
Sunbeam project brought together a number of
my interests and concerns as an artist in so far as
my art work features the harnessing of renewable
energy systems - both within the gallery and at
outdoor locations.
"Another important strand to my work relates to
the transformation and flow of energy-light,
electrical signals, information, thoughts and ideas.
“In this project the Sun was both the energy
source and the subject of the image. It was used
to highlight the numerous strands of significant
research that are taking place at the University in
science, technology and art and the ways in
which they interact, support and complement
each other.”
Produced with assistance from Dr Stephane
Regnier and David Henckel, Sunbeam was an
outdoor event involving the projection of
animated image sequences produced from highdefinition
images of the Sun taken by NASA’s
Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) and then
projected onto UCLan’s solar tracker array.
The event showcased a double first for the
University: UCLan is the only UK institution to be
collaborating closely with NASA and its
international partners to investigate, store,
manage and ultimately share the images with
the European scientific and academic community.
UCLan was also the first UK university to install
solar trackers during 2009 that capture and store
energy as they rotate and follow the motion of
the Sun.
Dr Robert Walsh, who as part of the event also
delivered a public lecture entitled ‘Living on a
Star’, said: “SDO continues to beam spectacular
images to us at a rate of 150 million bits of data
per second, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Their unparalleled clarity is helping us to reveal
and unravel the mysteries of the Sun but the
images are so spectacular that we thought
people from the wider community would also be
interested to see them. The event was a great
success with people arriving from across the
country for a unique and fascinating experience.”
26