Institute of Imagination ELM Science Fair · timetable
Saturday 29 August 2026

Timetable

Setup on Friday, the day itself on Saturday, collection on Tuesday. The large room on the ground floor, London Muslim Centre, 46 Whitechapel Road, E1 1JX.

10:00–17:30
public day
7h 30m
9:00–18:00
iOi on site
setup to 10:00 · pack down from 17:30
Fri 15:00
setup at the venue
Tue 10:30
collection

Friday 28 August

  1. 13:15 – 14:00 Friday congregational prayerJumu’ah. The building is full, halls included, and clears from around 15:00.
  2. 15:00 Liber and Muireann set up the tables and the decorationsThe ISS cupolas, the cut-out stars, the planet balloons, the papier mache asteroids and the registration desk sign. Saturday morning then starts with the room laid out.
  3. Courier delivers to ELMThe driver goes to the Maryam Centre Main Entrance, where ELM guide the van in and help unload. No time set, and nobody from iOi is at the venue before 15:00. The materials stay at the venue until Tuesday.

Saturday 29 August

  1. 9:00 – 10:00 iOi arrives and sets upCheck the delivered materials are all present before unpacking. Tool area first, it takes the mains socket, then the station signs, one per station. iPads and laptops onto the wifi. Check the first aid pack is the medical one, and that the fan repair kit has travelled with the wind tunnel.
  2. 9:30 Facilitators and volunteers arriveVolunteer half days: 9:30 to 13:00, or 13:45 to 18:00. Wear comfortable shoes.
  3. 9:30 – 10:00 Briefing and tool inductions, at the stationRun by the facilitator, following the volunteer guide.
  4. 10:00 Doors open
  5. 10:00 – 17:30 Seven stations runningDrop-in, so arrivals are continuous. Quiet at first, busier from around 12:00.
  6. 13:00 – 13:45 Breaks, and the volunteer half days change overZuhr is at 13:30 and takes roughly 15 to 25 minutes with people gathering and leaving. The morning half finishes at 13:00, the afternoon half starts at 13:45, and the room stays open across the gap.
  7. 15:30 Ellie leavesNature’s Engineers and Sounds of the Universe lose their second adult. Each keeps its own facilitator.
  8. 17:30 Public day ends
  9. 17:30 – 18:00 Pack downTools counted back in one by one: the chompsaws, the two glue guns, the rotary tool. Tablets and charging cables counted against what went out. Feedback forms kept together. The wind tunnel and the display boards travel as assemblies, and t-shirts go for washing. Everything is left packed and labelled for Tuesday.
Prayer times, Saturday 29 August
PrayerMay be said fromCongregationIn our day
Dawn (Fajr)4:334:53no
Midday (Zuhr)13:0713:30yes
Afternoon (‘Asr)16:4818:15after we leave
Sunset (Maghrib)19:5720:04no
Night (‘Isha)21:0721:30no

Tuesday 1 September

  1. 10:00 Muireann and Jean arrive at ELM to help load
  2. 10:30 Courier collects from ELMEverything is in the youth room, where it is stored over the weekend.