Students’ research rewarded with cash prizes

Students’ research rewarded with cash prizes

Talented school students from around New Zealand were presented with awards totalling more than $30,000 on Wednesday night for science and technology research projects they had completed.

The winning projects included a device to alleviate back pain from bad posture, a study on the ideal temperature and amount of food required when transporting bees, and a remote controlled lawn mower.

The top prize went to Stanley Roache of Onslow College in Wellington who won the Genesis Energy Supreme Award of a $7,000 cash scholarship and an all expenses paid trip to the London International Youth Science Forum later this year. His winning project on optical tubes looked at explaining the development of coloured rings and bands that appear inside polished metal tubes.

Outstanding Awards were won by Jake Martin of Cambridge High School and Nicole Steele of Morrinsville College who each received $5000. Jake’s project looked at the magnetism of biocarbon, and Nicole studied the effectiveness of antibiotic treatment for mastitis in dairy cows.

A total of 11 awards were announced at the Genesis Energy Realise the Dream prize giving at Te Marae, Te Papa.

Realise the Dream is organised by the Royal Society of New Zealand and celebrates top school students who have carried out an excellent piece of research or technological development.

Chief Executive of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Dr Di McCarthy said the students’ work was of an extremely high standard and the winners were very deserving.

“We believe it is vital that science is seen as a valuable career path at an early age. Realise the Dream rewards and encourages students to develop their investigative skills and come up with original work and this year was no exception.”

The prize giving followed on from the Royal Society of New Zealand’s Realise the Dream event which saw 29 students spend five days in Wellington in December as a reward for their earlier outstanding achievements in science and technology research projects.

The dinner was attended by the Governor-General the Honourable Sir Anand Satyanand and the Minister of Research, Science & Technology, the Hon. Dr Wayne Mapp.

ENDS
A full list of award winners (by region) is given below.

For more information, or to get in touch with any of the students, please contact Debbie.woodhall@royalsociety.org.nz Ph (04) 470 5762 or 027 229 6380

WELLINGTON REGION:
Genesis Energy Supreme Award - a $7,000 cash scholarship and an all expenses paid trip to the London International Youth Science Forum later this year.
Winner: Stanley Roache (18), Onslow College, Wellington - “Optical Tube”
Stanley's project arose out of an unusual problem posed at the International Young Physicists Tournament. He set out to explain and model the development of coloured rings and bands that appear when you look down the inside of a long highly polished metal tube. With an exemplary approach of observation, explanation, prediction and test, Stanley developed a highly successful model that went well beyond the original expectations of those who posed the problem. His project demonstrated a perceptive and scientifically disciplined mind with tremendous potential. The choice of Stanley for this award was unanimous amongst the judges.

Recipient of the Peter Spratt Memorial Award ($1,000 Cash)
Morgan Archer (13) from Samuel Marsden Collegiate School, Wellington – “Peppermint Power”
Morgan Archer examined if peppermint could improve the reaction times of people who were already fatigued or alert. Morgan showed an excellent grasp of the issues involved investigating humans. The judges especially praised her experimental design, her procedure, and her ability to explain her research.

Recipient of an ‘Excellence Award’ sponsored by the Allan Wilson Centre (2,000 cash)
Winner: Liam Ellis (18), Hutt Valley High School - "AVERT - Posture Assessment"
Liam successfully developed a mechanical and electronic device to monitor back posture and warn a user when that posture is potentially harmful. His device has stimulated strong interest from medical professionals. Also it has much potential in other areas from sports science through to computer animation.

AUCKLAND REGION:
Recipient of an ‘excellence award’ sponsored by the Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand Award ($2,000)
Winner: Abhilash Kamineni (17), Mt Roskill Grammar School - “NSR Transfer”
Many people need to transfer computer files rapidly between memory sticks but are hampered by needing a computer to do this. Abhilash designed and built a small, pocket sized device that allows data to be transferred between memory sticks rapidly. His product has significant commercial potential.

Recipient of an ‘excellence award’ sponsored by DairyNZ ($2,000)
Winner: Nikhil Mashabade (17), Mount Roskill Grammar School- "The SpyNik"
Young children viewing inappropriate website material is a worry for many parents - especially if the children try to cover their tracks, or if the parents have only rudimentary computer skills. Nikhil developed a device to unobtrusively track the websites visited by a computer and display them to parents on another computer. Nikhil's device even allows the parents to remotely disconnect the childrens computer from the internet

Recipient of an ‘excellence award’ sponsored by Technology Education New Zealand ($2,000)
Winner: Kevin Huang (17), Mt Roskill Grammar School - "Remote Control Lawn Mower"
Kevin showed an advanced combination of business and engineering skills to
develop a radio controlled lawn mower for his grandparents to use. His successful device has appropriate safety and ergonomic features. The judges were impressed and so, we gather, are his grateful grandparents.

Recipient of the Peter Spratt Memorial Award sponsored by the Royal Society of New Zealand ($1,000)
Winner: Hannah Ng (15), St Cuthbert’s College, Auckland – “Stop Short-Sight with Sunlight”
Hannah looked for evidence of links between the amount of light exposure experienced and the development of myopia in teenagers. This was difficult research on human beings, and Hannah designed and used an advanced experimental procedure that will no doubt be used by others to follow.

NORTHLAND REGION:
Recipient of an ‘excellence award’ sponsored by Statistics New Zealand ($2,000)
Winner: Samantha Stevenson (17), Kerikeri High School - "The effect of temperature on the feeding rate of bees"
Samantha explored the influence of temperature on the amounts of bee candy that must be supplied to queen bees when they are being transported. The project demanded impressive practical skills, and Samantha showed an outstanding ability to present and discuss her work.

WAIKATO REGION:
Outstanding Award Winner: Jake Martin (18), Cambridge High School - "Magnetic Biocarbon" ($5,000)
Every now and then a new an unexpected observation sets researchers off in a new direction and excites even the most experienced in the field. Jake had built a gasifier to produce fuel gas from wood. He noticed magnetic properties in the biochar residue from this gasifier. This was a totally unexpected observation that he sought to explain at the molecular level. His results have drawn much interest from chemists, physicists and engineers.

Outstanding Award Winner: Nicole Steele (18), Morrinsville College - “Treat them to keep them” ($5,000)
Nicole's nomination arose from her Gold Crest study on the effectiveness of antibiotic treatment for mastitis in dairy cows. She carried out a complex and demanding project that examined treatment duration, antibiotic resistance in the disease organisms, and technology transfer to farmers. She impressed the judges with the thoroughness of her approach, her application of statistics, the depth and breadth of her understanding, and her ability to explain the project succinctly.

HAWKES BAY:
Recipient of the Excellence in Promotion Award sponsored by the New Zealand South-Pacific District of Kiwanis International ($2,000)
Winner: Mitchell Lowe (12), Taradale Intermediate School, Hawkes Bay, “Shake, Shake – a study of dynamics”
This award is for promotion Mitchell carried out over the last three months about Realise the Dream and his science research project on how does the height of a building affect its stability in an earthquake. Are tall buildings necessarily the most likely to collapse in major earthquakes? To investigate these questions, Mitchell built a shaking table to simulate the effects of earthquakes using model buildings. His meticulous experiments and background research showed that many structural factors can prolong the ability of tall buildings to absorb the energy provided by lateral shaking.

For more information about Realise the Dream visit www.realisethedream.org.nz

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