Questacon

Questacon - the National Science and Technology Centre is an interactive science communication facility in Canberra, Australia.

Questacon is a museum with more than 200 interactive exhibits relating to science and technology. It has many science programs that are intended to inspire the children of Australia to love science.

Complimenting the main museum, Questacon Science Circus is an outreach program and is the most extensive science outreach program of its kind in the world. Each year, the Science Circus engages with more than 100,000 people, travels 25,000 kilometers, runs professional development courses for 600 teachers and visits about 30 remote aboriginal communities as well as hospitals, nursing homes and special schools.

Questacon is an interactive science centre that began as a project of the Australian National University (ANU), in spare space at the Ainslie Public School in Canberra. It opened with 15 exhibits and was staffed entirely by volunteers and by ANU physics lecturer Professor Mike Gore AM, it inspired him to develop Australia's first interactive science centre, based on the Exploratorium in San Francisco.

The name 'Questacon' combines two words— 'quest' meaning 'to discover' and 'con' meaning 'to study'. Professor Gore went on to become the founding Director of Questacon and in 2015, he got an Australia Day honour for his service to science.