The Children’s House, the Rijeka City Library, and the courtyard of the Benčić Art Quarter were taken over by a vibrant crowd of children, young people, students, scientists, researchers, educators, and enthusiasts of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The third STEM Picnic, held on a sunny Saturday, offered the perfect atmosphere for an inspiring journey through the wonders of the universe and human curiosity.
Visitors explored galaxies and constellations, experimented with chemical elements, solved mathematical riddles, and studied fruit flies in simulated zero gravity. They defended Earth from asteroid threats, launched rockets, cooked in space conditions, examined entire universes within a single drop of water, played space-themed games, navigated intricate mazes, built solar sails and spaceship models, and programmed robots designed for education. Virtual reality transported them into ship engine rooms, the human body, and distant corners of the cosmos.
Meanwhile, activities like learning about stone arches, science podcasting, and hands-on experiments brought science even closer to daily life.
In the courtyard, everyone had the chance to test out a Formula vehicle, explore the interior of a fire truck, and play board games inspired by the Milky Way—designed by children from kindergartens and schools that participated in STEM competition challenges.
Among the most visited and talked-about experiences was the “Fire in a Virtual Ship Engine Room” simulation, created by the Faculty of Maritime Studies of the University of Rijeka as part of a pilot project within INNO2MARE, a project funded by the Horizon Europe programme.
This pioneering project tackles a crucial challenge: how to provide a more realistic yet safe training environment for shipboard firefighting. The team’s solution is to develop a virtual reality simulation of a ship’s engine room, enhanced by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis to model the actual spread of fire. Unlike traditional VR models that show fire as a static, localized flame, this dynamic simulation creates a more immersive and urgent training experience—bringing the virtual scenario closer to real-life conditions. The VR activity was enjoyed by people of all ages, from young children to adults and senior, everybody wanted to try it out.
