Two young South Africans wow the global science community
At the recent Falling Walls Science Summit in Berlin, the hotly contested Breakthrough of the Year category saw not just first place but also second awarded to South Africans — among 80 young scientists from 54 countries presenting innovative ideas in a gruelling threeminute pitch.
First place went to Wits University’s Tamlyn Sasha Naidu for her intervention that tackles acid mine drainage in a circular economy. Second place went to Emma Horn, from the University of Cape Town, who has come up with a way of making super-strong tiles out of calcium and urea in a way that requires a negligible amount of energy.
The summit is one of the biggest get-togethers of the global scientific community, held for three days during the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Naidu’s project tackles mining-related water pollution and land loss.
She uses waste products from the refining and agricultural sectors to treat mining wastewater, creating a nutrient-rich sludge which can be used for hydroponic farming.
Simply put, waste is being used to treat waste to create something useful — and that is a true circular economy coup.
“It’s about water pollution emanating from mines across the globe,” she said.
“Mines cause major water pollution with specific types of contaminants. This technology addresses the contaminants, at the same time adding value to the water stream and the reagents we use.
“So they are all waste materials. In the process we are using waste instead of creating it, and producing clean water.”
Naidu, a postdoctoral fellow, said once a mine is in operation, it will continue to produce acid mine drainage for hundreds of years after closing and long after all value from the earth has been extracted.
This is relevant to South Africa but also applicable in other countries such as Russia, India, Brazil and the US.
Naidu conceptualised her project in Colorado where the Animas River got polluted during a 20-minute “spill” and has still not recovered.
“This is a globally relevant topic,” she said, “and I am so happy to be raising awareness about acid mine drainage.”
Existing mining operations had no way of treating the pollution they create because it is too expensive.
“What is needed is a cost effective modular solution that can be deployed at mine sites throughout the world,” said Naidu.
Horn’s work explores the first bio-tile binder jet 3D printer that prints sustainable and aesthetic bio-tiles in a highly-scalable way requiring negligible energy input.
“I am at UCT doing my PHD and I am making tiles as a way of trying to escape the regular way that uses a lot of energy.
“My process uses bacteria and requires negligible amounts of energy. It is done at room temperature using just two reagents — calcium and urea — to form calcium carbonate, a biocement that can cement together anything.”
Horn has been using sand because it is the most simple, but one could use glass or unrecyclable plastic.
“That’s the brilliance of the circular economy,” she said, adding her tiles are “as strong as conventional tiles”.
The only difference is hers should not be used in the kitchen or bathroom because “at this stage” they would absorb water, but they can still be used as interior and exterior tiles for floors and walls and are “multifunctional”.
Her research into bio-tiles is set to shake up the fossil-fuelreliant ceramic tile and construction industries.
Dame Sarah Springman, principal of St Hilda’s College, Oxford, and a Falling Walls jury member, congratulated the winners, saying: “It’s great to listen to 80 young entrepreneurs from around the world, diverse in every which way, as they pitch, persuade, network and knock those walls down.
“I believe it is an important informal part of a young person’s education to be able to expose and present their ideas, within a supportive growth environment and on a more intimate stage than they will meet later in life.”
The South Africans were “shocked” by the wins as they found the quality of the research of other young scientists “astounding, so relevant and covering hot topics of issues that also need to be solved”.
Naidu said her family were so excited they started sending her footage of the win while she was on stage, and Horn laughed about how she had practised her pitch beforehand on her mom, tai chi class, and “about 200 times” to her boyfriend.