2013 Finalists
Investigations
Daisy Ambach
Queensland Academy for Health Sciences, QLD
Project Title: The effect of nutritionally enriched media on Arthrospira maxima
With a greater demand on the global food supply and an alarming proportion of the population affected by malnutrition, the purpose of Daisy’s investigation was to economically and efficiently optimise the production and the protein, iron and iodine content of the super-food Arthrospira maxima by culturing it in a nutritionally-enriched media. The results indicated that this media optimised the population growth yet it yielded the least nutritious culture, highlighting that further research is necessary.
View Daisy Ambach's interview on YouTube [external link].
Myles Buckley
Lyneham High School, ACT
Project Title: Dia-situations: An investigation into the use of diatomite for oil retrieval at sea
Myles investigated how pellets of hydrophobic diatomite could potentially be used in the case of a large scale oil spill. His experiments showed that the water repellent diatomite could not only selectively absorb oil from water, but that the small rocks would bunch into large clumps making it easy to collect.
View Myles Buckley's interview on YouTube [external link].
Conroy Cheers
Caulfield Grammar School, VIC
Project Title: Efficiency of production and storage of wind power
Renewable energy is becoming an ever more relevant topic in our modern world. In his project, Conroy worked with scale wind turbines to create a method of finding the efficiencies of the turbine and the generator separately. He also investigated gravity-based energy storage systems. Conroy’s project developed a method to measure and calculate the efficiency of a turbine and was able to use these measurements to determine an optimal range of blade pitch for different wind speeds.
View Conroy Cheers' interview on YouTube [external link].
James Cowley
Urrbrae Agricultural High School, SA
Project Title: Effect of deep freeze storage on levels of Vitamin C in carrots
After carrots were stored at temperatures of +9°C, -20°C, -80°C and -196°C, a titration was performed on their juice to determine the final vitamin content. Unfrozen carrots exhibited higher vitamin content than frozen carrots, but the actual temperature of freezing made no significant difference to the value of that content.
View James Cowley's interview on YouTube [external link].
Aki Flame
Newington College, NSW
Project Title: Microbial growth in earphones: Are earphones a vector for infection?
Aki’s experiment tested whether earphones are ‘safe’. The three primary variables that related to the ‘microbial safety’ were the design and shape of the earpiece, the material that the earpiece is made of and finally what type of microorganism is found on the earpiece. This project found that frequent use of inner earphones increases microbial growth, that different materials supported different amounts of growth and that several different opportunistic microbes were found on the earpieces tested.
View Aki Flame's interview on YouTube [external link].
Thomas Foster
Launceston Church Grammar School, TAS
Project Title: Induction using magnetic monopoles
Thomas’s project investigated how a magnet with only one pole, as opposed to a normal two-poled magnet, inducts electricity. A magnet with only one pole, usually called a monopole, has not been found yet, so a monopole was imitated using other magnets. The results were inconclusive so further research is needed.
View Thomas Foster's interview on YouTube [external link].
Hugh Gabor
Chevalier College, NSW
Project Title: The effect of oestrogen on the ovotestis of the garden snail
Hugh’s project aimed to determine whether oestrogen would impact the function of the sexual organs of the snail. Hugh became interested in this idea after seeing an article that showed that PET plastics release small amounts of oestrogen as they begin to break down. In his experiment, he treated groups of garden snails with oestrogen and water (control) over varying periods of time. Oestrogen was found to impact both the male and female sex cells of the garden snail, with an initial stimulatory effect followed by an inhibitory effect.
View Hugh Gabor's interview on YouTube [external link].
Hiroki Hayashi
Queensland Academy for Health Sciences, QLD
Project Title: Additional skin protection by applying green tea prior to sunscreen
Hiroki’s aim was to investigate the consequences of physical and chemical sunscreens on a skin model and whether green tea can provide additional protection. The results showed that some chemical sunscreens provide better protection than physical sunscreens and that green tea played a major role in reducing cell wall and free radical damage caused by UV light and sunscreen.
View Hiroki Hayashi's interview on YouTube [external link].
Jeremy Lynch
Queensland Academy for Health Sciences, NSW
Project Title: Biomonitoring of vehicular air pollution using roadside plants on the Gold Coast
Jeremy aimed to develop an economical, convenient and reliable method of measuring vehicular pollution levels on the Gold Coast and surrounding areas. Changes in plant characteristics such as leaf size have been effectively used to indicate vehicular pollution levels in countries such as Belgium. He found that the Australian Black Wattle can be effectively used to indicate changes in vehicular pollution level.
View Jeremy Lynch's interview on YouTube [external link].
Sarah McArthur
Methodist Ladies' College, VIC
Project Title: The effect of anti-apoptotic genes on immune mediated cell death in cancer cells
Sarah’s investigation focused on the immune mechanisms used by the body in order to fight cancer. She examined a malfunctioning gene in cancerous cells that resulted in their resistance to immune defence. The gene was then targeted with a drug to overcome the resistance, and the cancer was destroyed by immune proteins and enzymes. In identifying and treating malfunctioning genes that cause cancers to resist immune destruction, these cancers may be treated.
View Sarah McArthur's interview on YouTube [external link].
Somesh Putcha
Lyneham High School, ACT
Project Title: Determining the effects of doxycycline on Lactobacillus spp.
Somesh examined the effects of the anti-malarial antibiotic, doxycycline, on three probiotics belonging to the Lactobacillus genus. He performed tests in vitro to determine the effects. Through his lab work he determined that doxycycline inhibited the growth of the tested probiotics.
View Somesh Putcha's interview on YouTube [external link].
Joseph Quinn
Lyneham High School, ACT
Project Title: Strengthening biodegradable starch-based plastic with natural fibres
Plastic pollution poses a significant threat to the environment. Biodegradable, environmentally friendly plastics are an alternative, although they are not as strong as synthetic plastics. Joseph’s experiment was designed to test whether reinforcing biodegradable plastic with plant fibres could increase its strength. The results showed that plant fibres can increase the strength of biodegradable plastic, although the plastic that was produced would need to be improved if it was to be used commercially.
View Joseph Quinn's interview on YouTube [external link].
Saymaa Selman
Queensland Academy for Health Sciences, QLD
Project Title: The effect of flooding on South-East Queensland waterways
Saymaa’s study investigated the effect of flooding on the biological water quality of South-East Queensland waterways by compiling secondary data of parameters tested prior to flooding with that after the flood event. Results suggest that there is a need for maintaining a consistent water quality monitoring network and individualised rehabilitation programs, including action plans, during heavy rainfall events to protect the quality and diversity of local waters.
View Saymaa Selman's interview on YouTube [external link].
Anna Stewart-Yates
Hornsby Girls High School, NSW
Project Title: Should we throw the pen out with the bathwater?
Students from university through to kindergarten are increasingly abandoning handwriting in favour of computer-based typing. Anna’s study explored the possible advantages handwriting might offer over typing in student learning outcomes. Factual recall levels of students who hand wrote dictation were compared with those who typed the same dictation with findings indicating that handwriting may indeed lead to higher recall. It’s an area that’s definitely worthy of further research.
View Anna Stewart-Yates' interview on YouTube [external link].
Seyedeh Reyhaneh Taghavi
Queensland Academy for Health Sciences, QLD
Project Title: The in vitro biosynthesis of catalase as a virulence factor in Escherichia coli
Seyedeh’s experiment aimed to investigate the effects of iron and potassium at various concentrations on the biosynthesis of catalase as a virulence factor in E.coli. The concentrations of catalase were measured photometrically and showed that with both substances, lower concentrations result in greater concentrations of catalase. It was concluded with further investigation, that there is a possibility of controlling the virulence of E.coli to a certain extent.
View Seyedeh Reyhaneh Taghavi's interview on YouTube [external link].
Daniel Warren
Queensland Academy for Health Sciences, QLD
Project Title: Sequestering atmospheric CO2 by maximising C. vulgaris growth
Daniel investigated whether the presence of common plastics that are frequently found in the ocean affected the growth of a common green algae. He found that the algae he was growing grew better in the presence of more rigid plastics such as PET and PVC than when no plastics were present. Daniel found this by preparing 125 test tubes of nutrient-rich water. This preparation involved adding plastic platforms of approximately equal surface area to some of the test tubes, adding the green-algae and observing where the greatest growth was by taking growth measurements every 2-3 days.
View Daniel Warren's interview on YouTube [external link].
Engineering
Afework Assefa
Redeemer Baptist School, NSW
Project Title: Child Seat Alert: An innovative thermal monitoring device
Afework invented the Child Seat Alert, a thermal monitoring device that detects the presence of a child left in a car. Drawing on the results of 48 specific experiments using simulated babies, his self-contained car seat prototype utilises a pressure sensor and three temperature sensors to activate an alarm.
View Afework Assefa's interview on YouTube [external link].
Ethan Butson
The Illawarra Grammar School, NSW
Project Title: Getting shirty can be good sometimes
Ethan created a computer program that estimates UV exposure based on; time of day, month, material of clothing and saturation of the textile (wet or dry). It also approximates the amount of UV required to synthesize appropriate amounts of Vitamin D based on skin type.
View Ethan Butson's interview on YouTube [external link].
Macinley Butson
Mt Keira Public School, NSW
Project Title: A spoonge full of medicine is just what the doctor ordered
Macinley created a new device which can accurately measure and deliver medicine orally to a patient without overdosing or underdosing. The spoonge utilises the best qualities of spoons and syringes for medicine measurement and delivery.
View Macinley Butson's interview on YouTube [external link].
Seth Coppock
St John Bosco College, NSW
Project Title: Living with dyspraxia
Seth has dyspraxia, a motor coordination disorder. For his project he set out to improve his coordination. He devised an exercise routine and built a coordination puzzle to improve hand-eye coordination as well as measure improvement. The coordination puzzle was found to help improve hand-eye coordination but was not successful as a measurement tool.
View Seth Coppock's interview on YouTube [external link].
Tristan Forrester
Redeemer Baptist School, NSW
Project Title: The enclosed wind turbine
For a renewable energy alternative, Tristan designed and built a wind turbine that stores incoming air in retention bottles and releases the pressurised air in a regulated manner to drive a turbine. Quieter than conventional blade driven turbines, the enclosed wind turbine is also safer for bats and birds.
View Tristan Forrester's interview on YouTube [external link].
Yaya (Chenyue) Lu
Ogilvie High School, TAS
Project Title: Prototyping possible assistive methodologies for complete quadriplegics
Complete quadriplegics can’t control their arms or legs. Yaya’s invention demonstrated two ways that a complete quadriplegic can control wheelchairs using either movement of their face or changes in their voice. Both methods should work for quadriplegics regardless of the language they speak and should potentially give them more independence.
View Yaya (Chenyue) Lu's interview on YouTube [external link].
Cameron McCormack
Westminster School, SA
Project Title: Centre-less Water Turbine
Cameron’s invention is the Centre-less Water Turbine. It is a circular device with internal blades connected to an outer rim. The blades on his turbine are compound curved to create lift like a plane wing on the back-side of each blade. His turbine could be used to generate electricity from water flow, or as a transfer pump to push gels or liquids with solids through a pipe.
View Cameron McCormack's interview on YouTube [external link].
Johnathon Robertson
Rosny College, TAS
Project Title: The GETRA project
Jonathon’s project - GETRA - stands for Generating Electricity To Recharge Autonomously. This means by the act of moving (walking, running, etc). This is achieved by the use of magnets passing through copper coils which produces electricity with no greenhouse gas emissions. The intended use would be to recharge; phones, ipods, radios etc.
View Johnathon Robertson's interview on YouTube [external link].
William Russell
St John's Grammar School, SA
Project Title: SenoGraph: A mobile connected gas sensing framework
SenoGraph is a sensing framework that connects to the Internet via 3G or Ethernet and sends sensor data to a mobile application. It provides both graphing functions and notifications when certain sensor levels are reached. Via the iPhone /iPad interface, engineers at gas extraction sites will able to get an overview of several sensors in the surrounding area easily and more efficiently.
View William Russell's interview on YouTube [external link].
Kyle Willimott
Barker College, NSW
Project Title: Optimising the operational performance of a thermoelectric generator for sustainable green energy applications
The Thermoelectric Generator Model II is a device that creates electrical energy from waste heat and cooling. The device successfully solves the problem of how to maximise thermoelectric generator electrical power output while minimising heat input requirements and heat losses. It is a sustainable green energy alternative which fits in the palm of one hand and currently produces an output of around 20 watts.
View Kyle Willimott's interview on YouTube [external link].