UCL Qatar research in Sudan: Since 2012, under the auspices of the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums in Sudan, UCL Qatar has been conducting a large-scale systematic investigation of the iron production remains at Meroe and at the Meroitic site of Hamadab. Using geophysics to try to locate furnace workshops underground and to understand the internal makeup of the slag mounds, combined with systematic excavation, sampling and laboratory analysis, a number of exciting findings and results have already been generated. In January 2015, in order to enhance our understandings of Meroitic iron smelting, UCL Qatar created the first iron smelting festival at Meroe. The scientific aim of this festival was to collect data to improve our interpretation of the archaeometallurgical record. A further goal of the smelting festival was to raise local, national and international awareness of the technological prowess of the Meroites. Dr Jane Humphris, Head of Research in Sudan at UCL Qatar, would like to thank the following people, who made a wonderful iron smelting team: Jake Keen (smelter), Lee Sauder (blacksmith), Al-Tayeb Hassan Mohamed (NCAM inspector), Taj-Al-Sir Mohamed Ahmed (NCAM mason), Mohamed Ahmad Abdulla (Hamadab site guard), Moawia Osman Al Awat (Meroe Royal City site guard), Fareed AlShishani, Rebecca Bradshaw, Suleiman Awad Suleiman, Michael Charlton, Hana Abdelhalim Ahmed Mohamed, Graham Double, Mohamed Salih Fawi, Ryan Suliman Alamin, Salah Mohamed Afifi, Abdel Monim Ahmed Abdalla Babiker (Director of the Institute for Meroitic Studies, University of Shendi) Mahmoud El-Mahi Al-Tybe and Izz el din El Humry. Many thanks also to the team at the Acropole Hotel, who support and help this project in so many ways! Members of the local community who worked tirelessly to ensure this project was a success include: Abd-Alla Albalola, Fath-Al-aleem Bilal, Bilal Ali, Ali Abd-Alrahman, Alamin Nagm-Al-dain, Ali Ibrahim, Salim Ali, Zain Hashim, Al-Khier Ali, Tahir Ali, Kamal Bilal, Mustafa Mohamed, Fath-Al-Rahman Abd-Al-Malik (Tomsa), Hassan Hashim, Abd-Alla Suliman, Mutwakil Hashim, Ahmed Ali, Abd-Alsamad and Mohamed Gomaa.