Astronaut Tim Peake paid a visit to Kingston University (KU) scientists and engineers during the ongoing expo at London's ExCel Centre.

KU representatives hosted a stall yesterday (October 10) on Day One of the event put on by New Scientist magazine.

Over four-days the expo is showcasing technology and science in the UK and elsewhere, featuring 120 speakers who will talk in depth about their own areas of expertise.

Mr Peake, who served onboard the International Space Station (ISS) between 2015 and 2016, is one of the guest speakers.

On Thursday he found the time to visit the KU stall, where academics from university were showcasing some of their latest projects, including humanoid robots designed at KU.

"It was fantastic to see Tim Peake here... he was really interested to hear about our outreach activities as well as the hands-on work we do at the University teaching the next generation of engineers, many of whom will go into industry and support the likes of Tim and his colleagues to push the boundaries of space exploration," said Dr Malcolm Claus, senior lecturer in space engineering at KU.

Dr Claus said the first day of the event had been "great" with ample demonstrations of some of KU's most exciting science work on show.

"It's been a great first day at New Scientist Live, where young people have had the chance to interact with our robots, take part in bridge building tasks, try out the prototype for the bicycle sucker developed as part of the Primary Engineer Leaders Award competition and learn more about what we offer here at Kingston University."

Chère Reade-Edwards, STEM outreach officer, meanwhile highlighted the importance of KU's presence at what is billed one of the world's biggest science shows:

"It's important for the University to be at events of this scale where we can engage with a whole community.

"It allows people of all ages to interact with us, see what we are doing, how we are educating our students and learning from others, and ultimately working to make the world a better place," she said.