Unusual native insect displayed at Expo Uni

What animal lives in the rainforest, is devoted to its children and will give you a cuddle at the University of Queensland on May 17 and 18?

Meet the Giant Burrowing Cockroach Macropanesthia rhinoceros, a native insect from North Queensland which will be on show at the St Lucia campus during Expo Uni.

From noon to 5pm both days the University will put the world of learning and research on display with free, hands-on demonstrations designed for the whole family as well as future students.

University staff and students will be available at Expo Uni to discuss teaching and research activities with visitors.

Apart from the Giant Burrowing Cockroach, the University's Entomology Department will let you stroke a stick insect or race household cockroaches (bring your own or borrow one on the day).

Entomology Department activities also include a display to allow people to identify common insects from the house and garden; and a demonstration on how to make an insect collection. Visitors will also have the opportunity to 'metamorphose into an insect' and have their photographs taken, 1pm and 3pm both days.

Instead of a better mousetrap the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department has built a better mouse - the micromouse, a world champion maze-solving robot.

Have your golf swing analysed at Human Movement Studies on Saturday from 3-4pm or test your reaction time at the Physiology and Pharmacology Department.

Check with the English Department on performance times for Macbeth and post-colonial or Medieval theatre, or learn how to trace your family history in the History Department.

Expo Uni activities also include music recitals, a ballot on under-age voting, bush tucker and gold prospecting.

Visitors can work up an appetite at the high-tech research laboratories and street theatre then choose lunch or afternoon tea from an array of foods. Refreshments will be available in University refectories, and from a coffee shop and an international food stall in the Great Court, Wordsmiths Writers' Cafe, Pizza Caffe, Union Expresso Bar,
Asian and Russian food stalls, a Civil Engineering barbecue, Cafe de Rocks, and the University's Staff and Graduates Club.

Nine of the University's museums and collections will also be open, including the Anatomy Museum and Learning Centre, Anthropology Museum, Antiquities Museum, Geology Museum, Microscope Collection, Physics Museum, University Art Museum, University Insect Collection and Zoology Museum.

Many events have been scheduled during Expo Uni. They range from a lightning demonstration, to lasers, astrophysics and magic with Science in Action, water-powered rockets, KindaGym for kids, to a witness examination and mock trial conducted by the Students' Law Society.

Free undercover parking will be available in the multi-level car parks on Sir Fred Schonell Drive. The University can also be accessed by bus or CityCat.

Further details about Expo Uni are on the University's World Wide Web site: http://www.uq.edu.au