16 August 2004 Young Inventor Turns on the Heat for Science Fair

Youthful inventor Remi Martin, a Year 10 student at Lincoln High School, is ready to sock it to 'em at this year's Canterbury Westland Science and Technology Fair on Sunday and Monday (22-23 Aug.).

Remi's entry – one of over 300 from schools throughout the region that will be judged on Sunday and then go on public display – is a "microwave clothes dryer".

Adapting a conventional kitchen microwave oven, Remi has produced a new household appliance that can dry small clothing items significantly faster than a normal dryer, using less electricity. And it's particularly good at drying socks.

He's tested the device on a number of items and found it highly efficient. For example he can dry a woollen item in the microwave dryer in 9 minutes against 31.5 minutes for the same thing in a conventional clothes dryer. Cotton items he can dry in 7 minutes against 27 minutes, and acrylic items in 9 minutes compared with 30 minutes conventionally.

The microwave clothes dryer has various technical adaptations including a humidity sensor and switch and a mini-clothes line on the circulating plate.

Remi, who was assisted in the project by his brother Emil, says he is still thinking about how to make it better, one possibility being to install a tumbling device.

The head of Science at Lincoln High School, Steven Ray, describes Remi as a "real lateral thinker". Last year he won third prize in the Science Fair with a "self-pasting toothbrush".

The Canterbury Westland Science and Technology Fair, sponsored by Lincoln University, is in the Convention Centre, Kilmore Street, and open to the public with gold coin entry from 1-5pm on Sunday and 9am-4.30pm on Monday.

The top prize is a three-year tertiary study scholarship tenable at either Lincoln University or Christchurch Polytechnic and Institute of Technology.

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