Young scientists shine at expo
The Kwazulu-natal Central regional finals of the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists saw hundreds of budding scientists display their science and innovation research projects.
A total of 264 learners from the region gathered at the UKZN Old Mutual Sports Hall to showcase their innovative science, engineering and social investigations. A total of 58 judges who are educators, specialists and scholars in the various competition categories and Eskom Expo enthusiasts evaluated and gave scores to the 245 projects that were on exhibition.
The expo was one of 35 regional expos planned in all provinces – the first since 2019 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This year, the greatest number of entries were seen in the Engineering category with 59 entries. There were also 45 entries in the Energy category, 29 entries in the Biomedical and Medical Science category and 24 entries in the Social Sciences category.
A total of 67 learners received bronze medals, while 75 received silver and 41 received gold.
The Eskom special award winners: Best innovation project: Mikaeel Hassim from Star College with the project titled “Mycoremediation – Use of edible oyster mushrooms in remediation of chemically polluted soils and for the decomposition of waste hydrocarbons”, in the Environmental Studies category.
The best development award went to Nhlakanipho Dube from Embizeni High School with the project titled “Bioplastic from potatoes”, in the Environmental Studies category.
The best female award went to Snethemba Maphumulo from Durban Girls’ Secondary School with the project titled “Crobbage”, in the Plant Science category.
The best Energy award went to Rishta Premlall from Star College with the project titled “Production of charcoal from organic materials”, in the Energy category.
Meanwhile, at Ridge Park College in Durban, 2022 matric visual arts learners had a retrospective exhibition on display yesterday.
Visual Arts teacher Mahadaye Kuppan said it was a progressive course that began in Grade 10 and developed through to Grade 12. The exhibition is viewed on a holistic look at the learners’ work.
“It is developmental. Everything starts with a concept or idea they get from a picture or any source and they work on it towards a product in a particular theme. It is a creative expression that they execute in different medians and media. They create either 3D or 2D and specialise either in painting, sculpture or design and emphasis on drawing,” Kuppan said.