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Young SA students attend prestigious US science fair

Kgaogelo Letsebe
By Kgaogelo Letsebe, Portals journalist
Johannesburg, 17 May 2018
The South African team taking part in the Intel International Science Fair in the US.
The South African team taking part in the Intel International Science Fair in the US.

Nine high school learners are representing SA at the Intel International Science Fair (ISEF) taking place in Pittsburgh, US, this week.

The budding scientists are Alecia Brits, Martha Djan, Gabriel Gass, Frank Smuts, Rahil Samlal, Chase Newel, Kau Mohlamonyane, Steven Sacth-Luwes and Shreya Ramluckan.

They will present the projects they unveiled at the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists in October last year.

ISEF is a programme of the Society for Science and the Public, and is the world's largest international pre-college science competition where scholars from various territories are awarded the opportunity to showcase their independent innovations and research, and compete for on average $4 million in prizes.

The South African team is part of the 1 792 participants from 81 countries at this year's Intel ISEF.

Parthy Chetty, executive director of the Eskom Expo, says the team is made up of top candidates from around SA.

"These learners have investigated some really interesting topics and they all did so using reliable research methodology. They represent the cream of the crop, the best young scientists we have in South Africa.

"The Eskom Expo is all about encouraging and motivating young people to pursue careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. We hope that by attending this international science fair, they will be motivated to take their research to the next level."

The nine learners will present projects on a range of topics, from finding alternative methods to cure bacterial infections, through to developing new materials to protect astronauts from UV light.

Mohlamonyane (17), a finalist from Groblersdaal, is showcasing a smart pipe that can detect wasted clean water that passes through drainage systems. The invention, now in its fourth-stage prototype, has two exit pipes and one input pipe that uses the basic fundamentals of electronics to detect if water is clean or dirty, and enables the device to be able to store the reusable water being wasted.

Fellow finalist, Smuts from Cape Town, is exhibiting his project, "Schlieren photography: The density of the flame". It tracks the development of a Background-Oriented Schlieren design to measure the density of a candle flame and other axisymmetric Schlieren bodies, using a smartphone camera, a desktop computer and a printed sheet of paper.

Thava Govender, Eskom group executive, says the team is highly privileged to be part of the international affair. "They have all worked incredibly hard to get there. This is an exciting opportunity to learn new things, meet new people and expand their horizons. If they return with a prize that is a bonus as this is a formative experience that will set them up to achieve great things in the science fields in the future."

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