There’s something satisfying about seeing a big idea take shape especially when it arrives in a big box, ready to be opened. This week, we hit a major Collider Cafe milestone: our first fully finished product is here. The card decks have arrived! To mark the moment, my daughters decided to spell out something suitably iconic:E = mc², Einstein’s famous equation linking energy and mass, and one of the most recognised symbols of scientific discovery. Why that equation? Because it captures what Collider Cafe is all about: energy, transformation, and the power of ideas. These decks represent more than just cards, they’re the first physical product born from the sketches, prototypes, tests, and conversations that have shaped this journey over the last year. From concept to delivery, this project has involved: Collaborating with designers Selecting materials Finding suppliers Testing concepts And finally… stacking boxes into equations on the living room floor 😄 This is just the beginning. Wi

This week marks an exciting milestone for one of our biggest Collider Cafe projects so far - our Voyager-themed STEM ecxperience is heading out for its first real test missions. After months of designing, prototyping, refining, and tinkering (often in the company of coffee cups and scribbled notebooks), we’re sending out the first full version of the game, complete with all printed materials, to a small group of testers. These lucky first players will help us understand how the experience works in real hands, on real tables, with real families playing and learning together. Their feedback will be essential as we fine-tune everything from game mechanics and difficulty to the way instructions are explained and how teams interact with the content. We’re aiming for a wider release toward the end of the year, ideally in time for families to explore it over the holidays. Between now and then, we’ll be iterating based on what we learn, testing new ideas, and sharing updates as we go. Thank yo

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

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