Biomedical engineer Owen Falzon will be representing Malta at the international Famelab final at Cheltenham Science Festival in the UK this month.

Supported by the British Council, Famelab is offering this young scientist the opportunity to share his research with a wider audience.

Mr Bonnici spoke about new ways of analysing brain signals to enhance the performance of brain-computer interfaces and explained how this could improve the lives of disabled people.

Currently working at the Centre for Biomedical Cybernetics at the University, where he lectures and carries out research on the analysis and processing of biomedical signals and images, Mr Bonnici recently completed his Ph.D studies and is keen on transmitting his passion for science.

Communicating science accessibly and attractively is an evergrowing priority for researchers worldwide. Organised by the British Council in Malta in partnership with the University’s Research, Innovation and Development Trust and with the support of Actavis, Microsoft Innovation Centre, Vodafone, the Manoel Theatre, Malta Chamber of Scientists and St James Cavalier Centre for Creativity, Famelab helps young scientists acquire valuable skills to communicate their work to a non-scientific audience.

By doing so, researchers not only change the common stereotype of the scientist as ‘the geek in the white lab coat busy doing strange things’, but also justify public funding for their research.

“Famelab aims to discover charismatic scientists who inspire people to see the world from a new perspective. This is directly linked to our aim of offering young people learning opportunities and helping improve the quality of education,” said Martha-Marie Gauci from the British Council.