Merchiston's Physics department believes strongly in fostering the scientific interest of pupils outside of the classroom and consequently organises many events that the pupils may participate in.
Engineering Education Scheme
This is a scheme run under the auspices of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and The Royal Academy of Engineering. Its aim is to encourage bright young individuals with an interest in engineering to study the subject further. The Engineering Education Scheme links a school with an industrial partner with the aim of solving a real engineering problem posed by the partner company. This problem is real and has usually been unsuccessfully attempted by the company's engineers.
Young Engineer for Britain Competition
Pupils annually enter projects in this National competition and this year won the Overall National Title of Young Engineer for Britain in London during September. The winners David Kelnar, Jonathan Scott, John Wiley and Ramsay Waller were presented with their prize of nearly £1000 each by Lord Putnam and Carol Vorderman for their project, cleverly called HAMLET (Highly Advanced Multimedia Light Enhanced Theatre). The team have also taken advantage of several industrial visits and will be spending 3 days with the Royal Engineers in July. This is the first time Merchiston Castle School has won the event despite winning the Scottish final regularly over the past decade. However, this is the first ever Scottish winner of the event and to commemorate their special achievement the boys have been presented with a solid silver salver from Scottish Engineering
Merchiston Prestige Lecture
Each year Merchiston Castle School invites pupils from local Edinburgh and Lothian schools to attend Merchiston for a lecture from an external lecturer. This year's lecture was delivered by Professor Thomas F. Krauss and was entitled "Lasing down the Internet":
"We all love to surf the Internet, play on-line computer games and chat with people at the other end of the world. But how does it all work? What is the physics behind the Internet revolution? I will explore how fibre optics work, how information is transmitted from telephones and computers, using lasers, and how scientists at the cutting edge ensure that communications capacity will continue to increase."
Faraday Lecture
Each year the Fourth Form attends the annual Faraday Lecture sponsored by the IEE. Last year's lecture covered the latest developments in Global Positioning Systems and the development of the latest mapping facilities on computer.
Primary School Science and Technology Day
This annual event is intended to give young pupils from primary and prep schools an insight into secondary science and technology. Each year 200 pupils from local primary schools visit Merchiston for a day of science and technology.
