Young Bay stars shine at Eskom expo

From a fire-retardant made from corncob ash to a solar-powered system that could help physically challenged people move about their homes — whizz-kids from across Nelson Mandela Bay keep providing flair to the prestigious Eskom Expo for Young Scientists.

In celebrating 40 years of innovation and creativity, the provincial co-ordinator of the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists, Andre Schlemmer, said the achievement of pupils from previously disadvantaged backgrounds in the 2019 international science fair was one of the highlights of the region.

Seventeen bright sparks from Nelson Mandela Bay joined 600 of SA’s top young scientists to showcase their brilliance at the 39th annual Eskom Expo for Young Scientists ISF in Johannesburg from September and brought home 14 medals, three “highly commended” certificates and various cash prizes.

Schlemmer said the Eskom Expo helped pupils develop, and in 2020 would continue to help pupils and teachers through workshop training.

“We decided on six main activities with the primary goal of increasing the quality and innovation of the development of pupils’ projects,” he said.

“In 2019, we aimed to increase partnerships and funding, and inspire new pupils and teachers to start science clubs and Expo projects through science camps and the emphasis was on quality and excellence in scientific methodology and innovation — to mention a few.”

The Eskom Expo for Young Scientists has helped pupils attain leadership to study abroad, upgrade science labs for their school and offer funding for tuition.

“Our young scientists embraced the experience and enjoyed the international science fair beyond expectations.

“They achieved excellent results with four gold awards, three silver awards, seven bronze awards and three highly commended awards.

“We also had one international nomination, Sibusiso Mchunu.

“We were extremely proud of our special award winners, grade 12 pupil Shaziyah Laher of Al Azhar Institute in Malabar, grade 7 pupil Alex Holmes of Grey Junior School and Liyema Nenemba of  Ndzondelelo High School, who won a lab upgrade for his school valued at R125,000,” Schlemmer said.

Eskom risk and sustainability general manager Andrew Etzinger said the Eskom Expo challenged young scientists to be creative and use their logic when addressing issues faced in their own communities.

“Eskom supports scientific and engineering innovations by pupils who are becoming role models to their peers and finding resolutions to contemporary problems.

“We also hope to broaden their scientific horizons and encourage them to pursue careers in the sciences by igniting a passion for innovation in science, technology, engineering and mathematics,” Etzinger said.

Schlemmer said the regional team was looking forward to celebrating the 40th year of the Expo for Young Scientists with local boffins, adding that they hoped to attract more scientists from Port Elizabeth’s township areas.