The Monmouthshire and District National Eisteddfod Science and Technology Medal is awarded to Guto Roberts, Llantrisant, Rhondda Cynon Taff, for his lifelong contribution to science through the medium of Welsh.
Guto Roberts became involved with science and technology at the National Eisteddfod in 1971, when the first exhibition was on the Maes. As the Eisteddfod’s science and technology work developed and increased over the years, Guto’s plans became more and more ambitious, inspiring generations of young scientists with models, exhibitions and scientific implements of all kinds on the Maes every year.
Guto ensured that science and technology had a suitable presence on the Maes and in the list of competitions, and he was a member of the Eisteddfod’s central Science and Technology committee for twenty years.
Guto was responsible for creating the event and lecture programme for Eisteddfod week, and he was key to ensuring that Eisteddfod visitors were made aware of the latest scientific developments and their relevance to us here in Wales, through the medium of Welsh.
He was also instrumental in the promotion of STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) in the Eisteddfod to encourage the next generation of scientists to study through the medium of Welsh.
Originally from Llyn, Guto studied physics at university in Aberystwyth, where he played an active role in the college’s Welsh community, jointly leading a successful campaign to create a Welsh hall of residence in the college, and creating Cymdeithas Wyddonol Aberystwyth (the Aberystwyth Science Society), the first Welsh language science society with Iolo ap Gwynn and the late Dyfrig Jones.
On leaving university, he became a lecturer at the Polytechnic of Wales, Pontypridd, and by his retirement in 2000, he was head of the Physics group at the University of Glamorgan. He spent his career teaching, researching, leading research groups and publishing papers, looking in particular at gas properties under low pressure, heating water with the sun’s energy using tubes under low pressure, and apparatus science and management.
He was also Physics A level Chief Examiner for the WJEC in the 1990s, vice-chair of the Urdd Eisteddfod Executive in 1991, and one of the founding members of the Menter Iaith in Rhondda Cynon Taff. He was the Menter’s first Chair and remained a trustee for over twenty years.