Grand Arcade’s Grand Discoveries culminated on Thursday 25 September with a thought-provoking panel discussion featuring AstraZeneca, Legal & General, and Kern Venture Group at Grand Arcade’s Everyman Cinema, in association with Cambridge Applied Research.
Hosted by Emil Hewage, Founder and CEO of BIOS Health and Managing Director of Cambridge Applied Research, the event brought together med-tech experts, entrepreneurs, academics, and investors managing over a trillion in capital to explore AI’s impact on healthcare and investment.
Touching on the finale of this year’s Grand Discoveries event, Emil Hewage said: “The age of AI is dominated by hype and driving important concerns around loss of career paths for people of all backgrounds. This year’s Grand Discoveries focused on how AI is also enabling new breakthroughs to be made and shared with the world. That focus feels especially important because the jobs of the future may come from unexpected needs and use cases from major industries, such as medicine. These opportunities are being created even as other jobs disappear in the AI era.”
“I’m grateful to our partners, Everyman and Grand Arcade, for providing a forum where we can start discussions around what is needed next in an open, exciting and interactive format for all members of the community to access.”
Clinical trial leaders shared insights from 15,000 trials leading to 30 new medicines, while global partners from institutions, such as Harvard, joined the discussions. Cambridge founders also showcased their work, seizing a rare opportunity to connect with international leaders in AI and medicine.
With a rich mix of activities, workshops, and scientific exploration, Grand Discoveries drew the attention of over 2.2 million people. Highlights included Grand Arcade’s award-winning 25-metre DNA Helix sculpture and The Quantum Towers – a giant periodic table created by artist Sheefali Asija – both designed to inspire curiosity, with the sculpture now being gifted to a local state school.
Along the 15 displays from local partners – sharing about neurosciences, space, genomics research and more – there was also an opportunity to enter a virtual AR trail designed by the Cambridge Festival from Cambridge University.
The event also featured more than 56 interactive STEM workshops, run by bit.bio and the Institute of Astronomy into our Grand Discoveries hub, which raised funds for charities.
As a result of increased visitor numbers, Grand Discoveries enabled local software company, Orca Scan, to gain significant traction of its curated arcade game, OrcaCam, which it developed specifically for the event. Over 1,200 people played the game just under 20,000 times.
Speaking on Grand Discoveries, John Doherty, Founder and CEO at Ora Scan, said: “The Grand Discoveries exhibition may have ended, but OrcaCam lives on. It continues online as both a tribute to Cambridge inventions that changed the world and a live example of how QR codes can bridge the gap between the physical and digital worlds in new and exciting ways. A huge thank you to the Grand Arcade team for making this possible.”
Julie Kervadec, Grand Arcade’s Marketing Manager, reflected on the success of Grand Discoveries and said: “I’m so proud of the events we organise across the year. We constantly seek to combine education and entertainment with retail engagement through unique experiences. The second edition of Grand Discoveries has been a true success, showcasing scientific research and innovations from 20 local partners to inspire minds of all ages. From inviting visitors to become a polar scientist for the day with the British Antarctic Survey to building human cells from LEGO® bricks with bio.bio, taking an exciting journey to the stars with the Institute of Astronomy, exploring our giant exhibition and listening to a panel of experts hosted by Cambridge Applied Research at Everyman, it has truly been a summer celebrating science.”
Taking part in this year’s Grand Discoveries event were 20 local partners: Alzheimer’s Research UK, BIOS Health, bit.bio, British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge Applied Research, Cambridge Science Centre, Cambridge Festival, Cambridge University, Artist Sheefali Asija, Cambridge University Libraries, Cellestial Health, Illumina, Institute of Astronomy, Orca Scan, Qualcomm Technologies International, Ltd., Raspberry Pi, Snapdragon, Supersense Technologies, SuperSharp, The Gurdon Institute, and The Polar Museum.
To learn more about this year’s Grand Discoveries event, visit: www.grandarcade.co.uk/events/grand-discoveries/
