Outstanding success at International Science and Engineering Fair

Jesse Rumball-Smith, a year 13 student at Wellington College, placed 1st in the Behavioral and Social Sciences category for his road safety app, winning USD $6,000 + USD $1,000 for his school and his fair.

Isabelle Aduna, a year 11 student at Wellington Girls’ College, placed 3rd in the Chemistry category for her eco-friendly production of solar panels, winning USD $1,200.

Jesse and Isabelle attended the fair with the support of the Australian Science and Engineering Fair (AUSSEF) team who provided a pathway for them to attend.

Four of the eight Australian students were also category place winners: 

• Tim Wilson - Barker College, NSW - 1st Robotics and Intelligent Machines (USD $6,000 + USD $1,000 for his school and his fair)
• Cathy Zhang - James Ruse Agricultural High School, NSW - 3rd Earth and Environmental Science (USD $1,200)
• Anubhav Ammangi - Redeemer Baptist School, NSW - 3rd Plant Sciences (USD $1,200)
• Lily Rofail - PLC Sydney, NSW - 4th Physics and Astronomy (USD $600)

Stuart Garth, AUSSEF Fair Director, said he was thrilled with the results. 

"Our 10 students won an unprecedented 6 grand awards. Between them, our students have won a total of USD $16,200 which is equivalent to around AUD $25,300 - not a bad morning's work. Our AUSSEF fair also has received USD $2,000 for these two 1st places."
 
"To put this in context, it took 18 years for an Australian to win a 1st place award. Our New Zealand team won a 1st place award on their first attempt with us, which we are all on Cloud 9 about."
 
Recognised as the ‘Olympics’ of science for high school students, ISEF has brought together students from over 75 countries for more than 70 years. ISEF celebrates young scientists and innovators to find clever solutions to real-world challenges. This year there were 1650 finalists competing at the fair. 

Jesse’s project, Building A Better Backseat Driver, uses the ubiquitous smartphone in tandem with psychologically backed behavioural interventions to improve road safety. New cars increasingly include advanced safety features, but these remain out of reach for most of the fleet. The app Jesse has developed offers a solution and reduces the growing inequity which he says, “effectively limits safety to only the richest in our society.” 

Isabelle’s project, Power-Up with Produce, aimed to tackle the pressing issue of food waste and create an eco-friendly, cost-effective alternative to traditional photovoltaic cells by exploring the feasibility of using locally sourced fruit and vegetable waste as natural dyes for a special type of solar panel called Dye-Sensitised Solar Cells.

In addition to competing at ISEF with their projects, Jesse and Isabelle had many opportunities to make connections with like-minded peers, explore and learn from other students’ projects, and have had an "experience of a lifetime".

Both Jesse and Isabelle were supported to attend ISEF by Amanda Hood (a teacher at St Patrick’s College) and Sylvia Nichol (an Atmospheric Scientist at NIWA) who run the NIWA Wellington Regional Science and Technology Fair.