Michelle Whitford presented a terrifically engaging talk on Scientific approaches to characterising ancient Egyptian faience, beginning by quoting Cicero, "The life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living". Michelle applied laser 3D scanning and X-ray fluorescence to characterise glazed beads and funerary figures, showing that they could be classified based on elemental composition of the glaze, even if the provenance was not known. In her talk, she brought the ancient world to life - even raising questions about standardisation and mass production in Ancient Egypt! Michelle has just completed her PhD and is a great ambassador for STEM + HASS, and for MQ Photonics!