Young prize winners visit top science facilities
3 Sep 2010 12:42 PM
A group of budding science students have visited two of the UK’s leading science facilities, as part of their prize for projects ranging from wave energy predictions to calculating the accuracy of GPS signals.
The students all took part in the finals of the National Science and Engineering Competition at this year’s Big Bang fair in Manchester, where they were judged to be the winners and runners-up for the Institute of Physics prize, awarded for the best physics project. The prize included a visit last week to two of the UK’s leading science facilities – Diamond Light Source and ISIS Neutron and Muon Source – hosted by the STFC's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) in Oxfordshire.
Erik Bews (17) and Keith Alexander (18) from Kirkwall Grammar School in Orkney were joint winners. Erik and Keith worked with renewable energy company Scotrenewables Ltd to improve the predictability and accuracy of the company’s wave test facility.
Andrew Smith (19) from King Edward VI Grammar School in Louth, Lincolnshire worked during his summer holidays on a project looking at GPS systems. The study, led by Nottingham University, investigated inaccuracies in GPS signals.
Andrew is keen to encourage younger students to get involved in science. “I want to show to others that science is fun, interesting and exciting”, said Andrew. “Winning the competition has opened so many doors for me. I’m really excited about studying physics further at university.”
The youngest prizewinner was Seamus Curtin (12) from Lathallan School, Montrose. Seamus was a runner-up in the junior (under 14) category of the National Science and Engineering Competition for his 3D model of local galaxies. He was just 11 when he completed the project, and is a keen astronomer.
The students spent a science-filled day at RAL meeting scientists and touring the ISIS accelerator and experimental halls, and the Diamond Light Source synchrotron.
Dr Beth Taylor of the Institute of Physics (IOP) presented the students with their certificates. Dr Taylor said, ”All four students really enjoyed their day at RAL, and I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to share their enthusiasm. It’s very encouraging to see the next generation of physicists coming through. I’m very grateful to the staff at ISIS and Diamond who made it such an exciting day, and to the British Science Association who organised the competition”.
The National Science Competition is currently inviting entries for this year’s competition (link opens in a new window). The deadline for entries is Sunday 31 October 2010.
Notes to editors
Contacts
- Dr Beth Taylor
IoP Director of Communications and External Relations
Tel: +44 (0)20 7470 4800
- Bekky Stredwick
Press Office
STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
Tel: +44 (0)1235 445 777
Mob: +44 (0)7825 861 436
National Science and Engineering Competition
The National Science and Engineering Competition awards students whose projects exhibit outstanding achievement in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). The competition is part of the nationwide National Science and Engineering Week which aims to celebrate science, engineering and technology and its importance to everyday lives.
The Competition is open to all 11-18 year olds across the UK who have completed a project or activity in any STEM field. Finalists have their own exhibition stand at The Big Bang: UK Young Scientists’ and Engineers’ Fair.
Competition prizes
A number of institutions and organisations generously sponsor discipline-specific prizes within the National Science & Engineering Competition. These include The Institute for Physics Prize, which is offered to the team or individual that has produced the best physics project and The Nuffield Foundation and Clothworkers' Foundation Best Use of Maths Prize for the best use of mathematics. This year’s winners received a total of £500 plus a certificate and a visit to world leading research facilities Diamond Light Source and the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source.
Scotrenewables Ltd
Scotrenewables (Marine Power) Ltd is a renewable energy research and development company based in Orkney, Scotland. Their main focus is on tidal energy and they have just completed a full scale tidal turbine with a capability of 250kW, which is currently being tested by Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries in Belfast.
Competition winners
Keith Alexander, 18, and Erik Bews,17, both from Kirkwall Grammar School, Orkney won the Institute of Physics (IOP) Prize for Physics for their age group (14-16). The prize was for their investigations into the predictability and accuracy of the test wave at Orkney Hydrodynamic Research Facility. The Orkney Hydrodynamic Research Facility investigates hydroelectric power systems.
Seamus Curtin,12, from Lathallan School, Montrose in Scotland, was a runner-up in the junior (under 14) category of the National Science and Engineering Competition for his 3D model of local galaxies. He was just 11 when he completed the project, and is a keen astronomer.
Andrew Smith, 18, from King Edward VI Grammar School, Louth, Lincolnshire, won the senior category (16+) of The Nuffield Foundation and Clothworkers' Foundation Best Use of Maths Prize for his work in calculating inaccuracy of GPS systems.
The Institute of Physics (IoP)
The IoP has a worldwide membership of over 37,000 and is a leading communicator of physics-related science to all audiences, from specialists through to government and the general public.
ISIS
ISIS is a world leading centre for research in the physical and life sciences at STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire.The suite of neutron and muon instruments allows the properties of materials to be understood at the scale of atoms.
ISIS supports a national and international community of more than 2000 scientists for research into subjects ranging from clean energy and the environment, pharmaceuticals and health care, through to nanotechnology, materials engineering and IT.
Diamond Light Source
Diamond Light Source (link opens in a new window) is funded by the UK Government, via STFC, and by the Wellcome Trust.
Diamond generates extremely intense pin-point beams of synchrotron light of exceptional quality ranging from x-rays, ultra-violet and infrared. For example Diamond’s x-rays are around 100 billion times brighter than a standard hospital X-ray machine or 10 billion times brighter than the sun.
Many of our everyday commodities that we take for granted, from food manufacturing to healthcare products, from revolutionary drugs to surgical tools, from computers to mobile phones, have all been developed or improved using synchrotron light.