Student Science And Technology Research Celebrated
From the Royal Society of New Zealand
For Immediate Release: 27 November 2008
Student Science And Technology Research Celebrated At National Event
Twenty nine students from around New Zealand have been selected to attend Genesis Energy Realise the Dream, Wellington, 7-12 December. The Royal Society of New Zealand-organised event celebrates students who have carried out excellent science, technology or engineering research.
Some of the research and technology projects students were selected for include; super-cooled computers for gaming, touch-screen technologies for household items, the effects of exercise in preventing memory loss, driver behaviour outside the school gate and weta mating behaviour.
During the week students will present their research to a panel of judges and visit science institutions such as GNS Science, Island Bay Marine Centre, Massey University Wellington and the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary.
Students are then required to share their work with their communities before returning to Wellington for the Awards Dinner on Monday 9 March, where cash prizes of up to $7,000 and international travel to countries such as China and the United Kingdom will be presented.
“Genesis Energy Realise the Dream is about getting students excited about what science has to offer and giving them the opportunity to meet and network with likeminded students” says Royal Society of New Zealand organiser Debbie Woodhall.
Genesis Energy Realise the Dream is also sponsored by DairyNZ and The New Zealand Commission for UNESCO as well as other organisations that support individual awards.
Details of the students selected and the names of their projects are listed below in geographical order from north to south.
Northland:
Lauren Wing,
(17), Kerikeri High School.
Project Title: Effect of
temperature on feeding rates of Monarch
Caterpillars.
Auckland:
Joesph Windsor, (15), Mt
Roskill Grammar School, Auckland.
Project Title: Boys on
Bikes, exercise and concentration of adolescent
boys.
Alwin Lim, (16), Mt Roskill Grammar School,
Auckland.
Project Title: Frost - There's frost on my car
but it's not freezing cold!
Alana Wylie, (16), & Kathleen
Chatfield, (16), Auckland Diocesan School for
Girls'.
Project Title: Use it or Lose it!, Exercise and
the prevention of memory loss.
Surita Manoa, (11),
Ponsonby Intermediate School, Auckland.
Project Title:
The Art of Science, the science of paint
production.
Abhilash Kamineni, (16), Mt Roskill Grammar
School, Auckland.
Project Title: Tic-Tac-Toe, programme,
multi purpose robot arm and touch screen clock.
Alyosha
Yashin, (14), Macleans College, Auckland.
Project Title:
How lucky was Robin Hood? Variables affecting the accuracy
of an arrow.
Lucy Rogers, (15), Diocesan School for
Girls', Auckland.
Project Title: Off the beaten track,
The survival of reintroduced North Island robins on the
mainland.
Georgia Halcrow, (11), Murray's Bay Intermediate
School, Auckland.
Project Title: Mystery Numbers, Tools
for teaching arithmetic in schools.
Eastern Bay of
Plenty:
Shelley Moka, (13), & Te Hereripene Maui, (13),
Taneatua Primary School, Whakatane.
Project Title:
Traffic Trouble, Driver behaviour outside the school
gate.
Bay of Plenty:
Olivia Thompson, (14), Aquinas
College, Tauranga.
Project Title: CFL's Are they such a
bright idea? The health issues of compact fluorescent
lights.
Melissa Thomson, (17), Katikati
College.
Project Title: Sick of Cicada's, Chorus cicada
in kiwifruit orchards.
Carley Sheerin, (17), Katikati
College.
Project Title: Katikati Quarry: The future of
the quarry and the issues it creates.
Waikato/East
Waikato:
Jake Martin, (17), Cambridge High
School.
Project Title: The Wood Powered Engine.
Beth
Hampton, (12), Matamata Intermediate School.
Project
Title: Stretchy tent bags.
Manawatu:
Anna Palmer, (15),
Palmerston North Girls' High School.
Project Title:
Warning Lights, toxicology of the native earthworm O.
Multiporus.
Wellington Region:
Nika Thomson, (15),
Sacred Heart Girls' College, Lower Hutt.
Project Title:
Sugar Rush: what hypo treatment is best for Type I
Diabetics.
Oliver Pooke, (12), Hutt International Boys
School.
Project Title: Diode Discovery, The electrical
properties of oxidised metals.
Liam Ellis, (17), Hutt
Valley High School.
Project Title: VIPER (Versatility in
Picaxe Engineering & Robotics)
Sam Watson, (11), & Callum
Sinclair, (11), Tawa Intermediate.
Project Title: The
Nature of Light.
Nelson Region:
Nathan Denmead, (16),
Waimea College, Nelson.
Project Title: Rockets away,
Rocket engine performance.
Canterbury:
Victor Kang,
(17) Burnside High School, Christchurch.
Project Title:
To mate or not to mate? Weta mating behaviour.
Logan
Glasson, (12), Westburn Primary School,
Christchurch.
Project Title: Pest Trap Monitor.
Reuben
Posthuma, (14), Homeschooled, Canterbury.
Project Title:
Computer refrigeration system controller.
Otago:
Rhian
Gaffney, (13), Logan Park High School, Dunedin.
Project
Title: Jemima Puddleduck, Breeding behaviour and survival of
Mallard ducks.
Ben Mulholland, (16), Taieri College,
Dunedin.
Project title: iPod SuperDock, ipod docking
station.
Southland:
Maggie Fellowes, (13), Limehills
School, Dipton.
Project Title: Salmonella Blues, Sheep
behaviour and vaccination for Salmonella
Bradenburg.
ends