Last week marked a major milestone for Collider Cafe: our very first live event. Held in a local intimate setting with glasses in hand and ideas in the air,The Science of Wine brought together 18 people who were curious not only about wine but about the science that gives it character, structure, and story. The evening was hosted by Laure Soeters, who guided guests through a journey of pressure, acidity, fermentation and viscosity. Over the past few months, Laure and I have been developing this tasting experience together, blending her deep knowledge of wine with my passion for science communication. The result was something playful, informative, and truly Collider: where curiosity meets creativity, and conversation flows as easily as the wine. It was our first opportunity to test ideas in the real world to see how people respond to STEM concepts when they’re delivered in unexpected, human-centred ways. It was a chance to gather feedback, observe reactions, and learn what resonates. An

Exam season is in full swing at the moment a time that often feels like both an ending and a beginning. For many students, especially those in sixth form, it marks a moment of big decisions: what to study next, what career path to consider, and what kind of future to shape. Recently, I had the opportunity to speak with sixth form students at Ark Bolingbroke Academy, thanks to Alex Howell about careers and study paths in STEM. Their curiosity, insightful questions, and thoughtful reflections were a powerful reminder of why outreach and engagement are such an important part of what we do at Collider Cafe. We didn’t just talk about formulas and qualifications. We talked about creativity and collaboration—skills that are essential in STEM but are sometimes overlooked in exam-focused environments. Whether designing a new clean energy system, building a medical device, or developing a game-changing app, STEM careers thrive on imaginative thinking and teamwork. At Collider Cafe, our mission i

There’s a story about an apple falling from a tree and landing with a thud near a young Isaac Newton. It didn’t hit him on the head, as the cartoon versions would have you believe. But it did spark something far more powerful: a question. Why did the apple fall straight down? That question eventually led Newton to write one of the most important scientific books ever published: Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, or simply, Principia. Published in 1687, the Principia didn’t just change science, it changed how we understand the universe. At its heart, the book introduced three laws of motion and a universal law of gravitation. These weren’t just ideas, they were rules that applied to everything from the trajectory of a cannonball to the orbit of the moon. First Law: An object in motion stays in motion (unless acted upon). Second Law: Force equals mass times acceleration (F = ma). Third Law: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. These are taught in classroom

At first glance, it looks like a cryptic piece of maths — but it’s one of the most powerful tools for understanding signals, sound, structure, and even the universe. Context The story of the Fourier Transform begins with a puzzle about heat. In the early 1800s, French mathematician Joseph Fourier was trying to model how heat flows through solid objects. To do that, he needed a way to represent complex curves, the kind you get when multiple waves or signals combine. Fourier postulated that any signal, no matter how complex, could be broken down into a sum of simpler sine and cosine waves. These wave components, each with their own frequency and amplitude, could then be used to reconstruct the original. The Fourier Transform takes a signal, like a sound wave or a light pulse and turns it from something that changes over time into something that shows frequency. Imagine you're listening to a chord on a piano. You hear it as one sound, but your brain knows it’s made up of multiple notes. T

Product development isn’t a straight line. This month it’s been more of a spiral of tasting, talking, tweaking and testing. The ideas take shape somewhere between deep dives and long coffees with people who really know their subjects. In the past few weeks, I’ve been working with a range of experts, from designers to food specialists, wine merchants to coffee professionals. Each brings their own ideas, and their insight is helping shape the experiences and products we’re developing. Some of that work has taken place behind the scenes: on iPads in quiet corners of coffee shops, sketching out how ideas might look, sound, or feel when they land in someone’s hands. Other moments have been far more hands-on, like comparing cupping notes, chatting through food pairings, or learning how best to communicate complexity without losing clarity. Today marks a small milestone: I placed the first order for initial printed materials. There’s a satisfaction in clicking "confirm", turning something fro

We’ve just announced our first event, and one of the questions that keeps coming up is: What exactly is Collider Cafe? So, let’s talk about it - the idea, the purpose, and the story behind the name and logo. A Long Time in the Making This is not a new idea. In fact, I’ve owned the domain name for over a decade. Collider Cafe has been quietly bubbling away in the background while I focused on my career in the energy sector, a career deeply connected with the science and technology behind the energy transition from generation to retail. Through that work, I’ve seen first-hand how vital STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) is in tackling the world’s biggest challenges: climate change, energy security, sustainability, and affordability. But it's not just about big problems. STEM underpins so much of our everyday lives; from smartphones to farming, from global logistics to artificial intelligence. And yet, engaging with STEM can sometimes feel intimidating - that’s where Collid