News
For the attention of: News Editors; Science Editors and Science Correspondents
August 2 2006 [PR5202]
RICHARD HAMMOND’S EGGS-CELLENT ADVENTURE
“BATTLE OF THE GEEKS” Tx: BBC-2; Week 35
Richard Hammond hosts this 21st Century version of The Great Egg Race which sees the cream of British and American inventors and scientists face off in a unique challenge in which they are have 48 hours to design, build and fly their own craft across the mighty Fish River Canyon in Namibia, the second biggest canyon in the world.
Aided by “performance-scientist” Kal Spelletich and the inventor of the world’s most flippable beer mat, Ian Johnston from the Open University, the two teams have to transport a valuable yet fragile cargo from one side of the canyon to the other and have it survive the journey intact.
As fans of the original Great Egg Race will tell you – this cargo is an ordinary egg and transporting it is anything but simple!
Although the idea remains the same as the original programme, no challenge was ever as exciting as this one, or in surroundings as spectacularly beautiful.
The two teams are made up of three British and American men and women of various ages, temperaments and scientific backgrounds. Seeing if they are able to work together, solve problems and get their craft airborne will be as entertaining as the result itself!
Stunning scenery, interesting scientific facts and a truly tense climax makes the programme a treat for all the family.
To demonstrate the difficulties facing the teams, Kal and Ian perform some demonstrations of their own such as hurtling across the desert in a jeep with a wing attached to demonstrate how hard it is to control a plane in the air and they give a practical demonstration of rocket science using a pair of garden chairs and some fire extinguishers!
Ian Johnston said: “The show demonstrates that bright, imaginative engineers and technologists can turn their knowledge and skills to solving strange problems in amazing places. And they do it with good humour and not too much shouting.
“What struck me was the determination with which the teams threw themselves into the challenge. They were astonished to find out what they had to do - but that only lasted a couple of minutes before they were fully immersed in the problem.
“The final products were a brilliant contrast - sound and fury versus nail-biting tension. And some of the ideas were cracking as well. We would have liked to have seen the trained marmoset but we didn’t have time.”
Notes to Editors
Battle of the Geeks is a BBC/Open University co-production. It will be broadcast on BBC Two. Time and Date TBC.
The Open University and BBC have been in partnership for over 30 years providing educational programming to a mass audience. In recent times this partnership has evolved from late night programming for delivering courses to peak time programmes with a broad appeal to encourage wider participation in learning.
The Series Producer for the BBC is Andrew Fettis and the Executive Producer for the BBC is Gary Hunter. Executive Producer for the OU is Catherine McCarthy.
For hi-res photographs, interview requests and more details please call Guy Bailey using the contact details below
Resources
Related Open University courses:-
M150 Data, Computing and Information
S103 Science Foundation Course
T173 Engineering the future
T175 Networked living: exploring information & communication technologies
T180 Living with the net
Y153 Breakthrough to mathematics, science & technology
Websites: www.open.ac.uk/courses http://www.open2.net
Media contact
Guy Bailey +(44) 1908 653248
PROFILES
The Experts
KAL SPELLETICH
Kal is a 45 year old “performance scientist” originally from Iowa but now settled in San Francisco. He is the 7th of 9 children and was born in an elevator. He was expelled from Junior High School at 15 and at various times before enrolling at the University of Iowa was a dishwasher, cook, carpenter, auto mechanic, silk screen printer, entrepreneur, labourer, street scammer, plumber, factory, grocery store, salesman, teacher, carpenter, stagehand, and fix-it guy. Discovered his passion for art and technology while at University and is interested in the link between Art and Technology or “Art that does things”. He is the founder of SEEMEN, the art workers militia guild, who give performances of machines that “can, lift, spin, engulf in flames, measure human bio-inputs (heartbeat, respiration, movement, proximity, skin conductivity, voice stress monitoring)”. Kal has built over 100 machines and robots and regularly scours junk yards and dumpsters for industrial items whose technology can be reapplied.
IAN JOHNSTON
Ian is a 41 year old academic engineer; applied mathematician and inventor. He was born and grew up in Glasgow, is married to Jane, with one son Alexander, three cats (Grimble, Pipsqueak and Jemima) and more classic cars than he cares to contemplate, some of which work. After graduating he started research on artificial knee joints. After a couple of years he ran away from academic life to enter full time training as a ballet dancer - returning to the fold a year later when money and talent ran out simultaneously. He is still an active amateur dancer and performs in any show willing to have him. Since 1991 he has worked for the Open University as a Staff Tutor (lecturer) in Technology. His two most famous inventions are the world's most flippable drinks mat, the Aeromat, designed in 2003, and the Technotowel in 2004, which is a bath towel which doesn't fall off when you answer the door to the vicar after a shower. Neither of these have made it into production yet, but he remains open to offers.
Since November 2005 he has been seconded to work as Director/CEO of the Active Training and Education Trust, an educational charity which runs residential holidays for children. On his on-screen Partner, Kal, Ian says: “Kal's great fun to work with. I think it's because he builds robot sculptures - to him, machines and mechanisms are alive with their own characters and poetry. He gets passionate about what should work - and somehow the problems and impossibilities vanish and it does work!”
From Left to Right: Glynn Hughes, Leila Hasan, Jeff Liebermann, James Tongue, Dustyn Roberts and Jim Dyke.
THE TEAMS
ORANGE TEAM
DUSTYN ROBERTS (USA)
25, from New York. Dustyn is a robotics expert with a Masters in Mechanics and Movement Science; Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering and a double major in Biomedical engineering. Dustyn is currently designing a drilling robot for interplanetary deep drilling and directed the assembly of a Mars lander subsystem from prototype to production. Dustyn is likeable, relaxed, sporty, outgoing, and very smart!
GLYN HUGHES (UK)
47, from Lancashire. Glyn is an inventor and ex-policeman. He is an independent researcher in prototype development for a lot of companies in renewable energy and heating and has designed and invented one of the world’s cleanest burning wood stoves for heating homes. Inspired by his ex-neighbour, Fred Dibnah, Glyn has also invented a special helmet used by Greater Manchester Police and has rebuilt two classic cars from scratch. Glyn is talkative, enthusiastic and experienced at making inventions from “stuff lying around”!
JEFF LIEBERMAN (USA)
28, from Massachusetts. Jeff is a mathematician and performer who is also a graduate resident tutor at Bexley, part of the prestigious MIT in the US. Jeff is currently developing a process to teach and relearn motor learning skills such as dance and sports through a wearable robotic suit. He has also made four species of robot flower which generated music and lighting based on the behaviour of the viewer! Jeff is a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering and in Media Arts and Sciences, focusing on Robotics. He is also a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Physics with a minor in Music. Jeff performs as part of a musical improvisational duo called GLOOB(IC) who begin with silence and build up complex loops and arrangements as they go along.
PURPLE TEAM
JAMES TONGUE (UK)
35, from the Midlands. Silent film villain look-alike, James is also the friendliest, genuine, enthusiastic drag-bike racing person you could hope to meet. Studied Mechanical Engineering and although he describes himself as a self-employed carpenter and joiner, his experience covers designing and building MRI scanners to magnets for nuclear particle accelerators for CERN and the aforementioned world record breaking drag racing motorcycle. Not bad for a man whose workshop is his garden shed!
JIM DYKE (UK)
34, from Sussex. Mathematician, Philosopher, and all round nice-guy; Jim has degrees in Philosophy and Evolutionary and Adaptive systems so knows where we came from literally and figuratively. He is currently working towards a PHD within the Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Robotics in Sussex. They are researching dynamic robot walking. Jim describes himself as a “classic garage tinkerer and Lego brain” and like Dr Evil, has also dabbled in rockets and lasers.
LEILA HASAN (USA)
30, from San Francisco., Leila works for NASA on panoramic imaging robotics. She holds a Masters and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from MIT. She is currently a consultant for a mechatronics design firm working on circuit design for solar powered lighting modules. The lead engineer on a real-time imaging thermal cycler and the engineered the automation and instrumentation for the Living Chip, a screening system for genomics and drug discovery.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
· The programme was filmed at Fish River Canyon in Namibia in May 2006.
· The canyon is the second biggest in the world and is 200m deep and 540m across.
· The aim was to transport the egg from one side of the canyon to a point on the other side marked by a giant X. The winners would be the team whose egg was closest to the target and intact.
· The teams had 48 hours from when Richard initially briefed them. They had to design, build, test and operate their craft from scratch.
· The teams were supplied with a workshop of identical materials and supplies they needed. While experts Ian and Kal were on hand to advise, the teams work and ideas are all their own.
Q&A’S
Why Battle of the Geeks? What’s wrong with The Great Eggrace?
The Great Eggrace was a great programme of its time and but the title felt too wedded to that programme and the era that it came from – the 1970’s.
The new series is about showcasing the best scientific talent from both sides of the Atlantic and letting them get to work on new and exciting challenges using 21st century technology. While the fundamental idea remains the same (transporting an egg from A to B) the programme needed a new start – fresh locations, fresh teams, fresh presenters – and a fresh title.
Ok, but why Geeks? Isn’t that a negative term?
The dictionary describes a Geek as “a person who is single-minded or accomplished in scientific or technical pursuits” or “a carnival performer whose show consists of bizarre acts”. BOTG’s combines these two traits perfectly. The teams are experts in their fields and are determined to complete the tasks set. These people are the cream of their crop and didn’t get where they are without being single-minded and accomplished. The same traits required to be a success in BOTG. Flamboyance isn’t a trait usually associated with engineers and academics but Kal Spelletich and Ian Johnston, the resident experts on BOTG’s, aren’t your usual engineers or academics either. Kal is a performance-scientist from San Francisco and builds fire-breathing robots for interactive shows across America. Ian designed the world’s most flippable beermat and is a trained ballet-dancer. Performers? Certainly. Bizarre? Possibly. Inspirational? Absolutely.
Will the title/presenters/teams remain if the special becomes a series?
Like many shows that begin life as specials, there may be some changes between them and the series depending on various factors so nothing can be confirmed at the moment.
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