23 August 2004 Cobham Students Top among Canterbury's Young Scientists and Technologists

Cobham Intermediate students won first, second and fourth overall Best in Fair prizes at the 2004 Lincoln University Canterbury Westland Science and Technology Fair, judged in Christchurch yesterday (Sunday Aug. 22).

In first place was Year 8 Cobham student Jamie Shiel whose entry "Building site run-off – a sedimental journey" was a sausage-shaped barrier to stop environment-polluting sediment washing off building sites.

Jamie's prize for Best in Fair is a three-year fees scholarship for tertiary study (when he's old enough) tenable at either Lincoln University or Canterbury Polytechnic Institute of Technology.

Victory in the fair was a repeat performance for Cobham as a student from the school also won last year's overall top prize.

Second equal were Year 8 Cobham Intermediate student Hilary McConnell – who was last year's overall Best in Fair winner – with "Blow up your curtains and save energy" and Year 10 Lincoln High School student Remi Martin, helped by brother Emil Martin, who invented a microwave clothes dryer. They win $400 sponsored by Crop and Food Research Ltd.

In fourth place was Year 7 Cobham Intermediate student Vddaka Wijesinghe who investigated boosting plant growth by increasing the amount of carbon dioxide available to them as an ingredient of photosynthesis.

This year's fair drew 359 entries and an involvement of around 500 primary, intermediate and secondary students.

The winning entry by Jamie Shiel was inspired by concern that the building boom has created a big environmental problem from sediment washing off construction sites and getting into streams and rivers, burying the bottoms of these waterways and killing animals that live in the estuaries and along the coasts.

Jamie says he wondered if there was a simple and effective way of stopping these sediments – dirt and clay – getting into the rivers and damaging the environment. He believed they could be stopped by a simple sediment barrier and he experimented with various types of "sausage" made from biodegradable cotton mesh and filled with different materials – barley straw, builders’ sand and a combination of the two. His results showed that a fine mesh, straw-filled sausage worked best.

"They can be easily made, coiled like a snake on to the back of a truck and uncoiled right around a building site or stacked up to make a taller barrier," he said.

Other results –

Category 1 (Science): Vddaka Wijesinghe, Cobham Intermediate, 1; Sophie Morton, Lincoln Primary, 2; Alex Wu, Merrin School, 3.

Category 2 (Technology): Sam Angelo, James Richards, Templeton Primary, 1; Maaike Bootsman, Merrin School, 2; Max Wilkinson, Heaton Intermediate, 3.

Category 3 (Science): Jamie Shiel, Cobham Intermediate, 1; Elliott Kennedy, Lincoln Primary, 2; Michael Roselli, Westburn Primary, 3.

Category 4 (Technology): Hilary McConnell, Cobham Intermediate, 1; Charlotte Trevella, Rangi Ruru, and Thomas Pearse, Cobham Intermediate, 2 equal.

Category 5 (Science): Jessica Leckie, Maria Rockell, Lincoln High, 1; Brianna de Roles, Christchurch Girls' High, 2; Andrew Gray, Michael Ryan, St Bede's College, 3; Kimberley Shea, Marian College, Highly Commended.

Category 6 (Technology): Remi Martin, Lincoln High, 1; Will Kerr, Sam Hohaia, Lincoln High, 2; Michael Collett, Christchurch Boys' High and James Mitton, Lincoln High, 3 equal.

Category 7 (Science): Amanda McCracken, Burnside High, 1; Chul-Wook Hwang, Rangiora High, 2; Rachael Hemingway, Philippe McMurdo, Rangiora High, 3; Dana Othman, Burnside High, Highly Commended.

Category 8 (Technology): Jun Yoon, Daniel Roberts, Christ's College, Innovative Application Award.

The Chief Judge was Dr Jonathan Hickford of Lincoln University, the Judging Coordinator was Andrea Hogan of Lincoln University and there was a team of 46 Category Judges. The fair, in the Christchurch Convention Centre, Kilmore Street, is open to the public from 9am - 4.30pm today (Monday 23).

Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand