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 by ANU physics lecturer Professor Mike Gore AM, whose great love of teaching both students and the general public 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.