Laurie Winkless is an Irish physicist-turned-science-writer, currently based in New Zealand. After her post-grad, she joined the UK's National Physical Laboratory as a research scientist, where she specialised in functional materials.

She is an experienced science communicator, who loves talking about science in all forms of media. Since leaving the lab, Laurie has worked with scientific organisations, engineering companies, universities, and astronauts, amongst others. Her writing has featured in outlets including Forbes, Wired, Esquire, and The Economist, and her first book, Science and the City, was published by Bloomsbury Sigma in 2016. This was followed by Sticky, her exploration of friction and surface science, in 2021.

1. Up: The most visible part of a city's skyline is the skyscraper - do you know how they're built?
2. Switch: Sparks will fly - we'll explore the role of electricity, and you'll understand how the grid works
3. Wet: Cities can't survive without water, and they produce a lot of waste. Expect toilet humour!
4. Way: Let's head out on the open road, and explore beautiful bridges and the science of traffic jams
5. Drive: What good is a road without a car? Here we'll talk about everything from tyres to fuel cells
6. Loco: We'll dig our very own tunnel, and you'll discover why 'leaves on the line' cause problems
7. Connect: Cities contain other less obvious networks - food and goods, communications and money
8. City: Spend a day of discovery in an imaginary future city