Two Camps Bay High School learners went home with gold medals at the Cape Town Eskom Expo for Young Scientists held at Herzlia High School in Vredehoek recently.
Grade 11 learners Ntando Mambukwe and Sibulele Makalima with hundreds of other learners gathered at the school to showcase their science and innovation research projects for the Cape Town regional finals of the expo.
The duo also got recognition for the University of Cape Town (UCT) Science Faculty Special Award for their entry into the engineering category.
Their entry was dubbed “The Evolution of Radio Telescopes: The M.A.S.R.T.”
A total of 230 learners from around Cape Town gathered on Thursday 11 and Friday 12 August to display their innovative science, engineering and social investigations, while 82 judges, who are teachers, specialists and scholars in the various competition categories adjudicated.
Expo enthusiasts evaluated and gave scores to the 158 projects on display.
The expo is a science fair, where learners have an opportunity to showcase their projects about their own scientific investigations.
At the annual prestigious Eskom Expo for Young Scientists International Science Fair (ISF), selected students from 35 expo regions in South Africa then compete against the best young scientists from around the country and the globe.
The regional expo was one of 35 expos planned in all provinces across the country – the first Eskom Expo physical science fairs following a two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mambukwe and Makalima were the only students at the Cape Town Eskom Expo to have chosen something based on Space Sciences.
Makalima says the choice of the project was based on their interest in astronomy and having “unanswered questions, which were answered during the duration of the project”.
Makalima says their research was done on the topic of radio telescopes and two prototypes.
“A final one was designed and digitally prototyped. A list of materials was compiled, which were inspired by two previously made space radio telescopes. The final design is of a radio space telescope that was compiled through the use of the two previously made space radio telescopes and our two prototypes.”
Makalima explains that the purpose of the project was to address the problem of constant interference and sometimes-inaccurate results of radio telescopes.
“Many radio frequencies picked up by radio telescopes are man-made radio waves and the telescopes pick that up instead of the radio waves of celestial objects.
“This prevents radio astronomers from getting the results they are meant to observe. There is also the problem of our atmosphere and cloud patterns, which obstruct the radio waves from reaching the telescope, which also makes radio astronomical research harder.”
Mambukwe says they are proud of their achievement.
“We are happy about our achievement and are grateful for our recognition as this could change our lives from here on out.”
Mambukwe says they have big dreams for the future.
“We are definitely hoping to go international with our project and to get exposure to other great minds, in which we can learn from, and at the same time represent our school and country.
“We are also hoping that our project gets enough recognition for it to get sponsorships and for it to get built.”
The judges described their problem choice as ambitious and were impressed by the creative and insightful solutions they provided.
Louis Mostert, Camps Bay High School principal, says: “We are incredibly proud of Ntando and Sibulele who tackled a hugely ambitious subject and have put in a massive amount of effort and research into their gold winning project.
“We have no doubt that this is just the start of things for them, and we will be hearing more from them in the field of science in years to come.”
Rhodes University awarded a full first-year bursary to study towards a BSc degree to Matthew Redfern and Joseph Gibbon from Pinelands High School and the University of Cape Town awarded a scholarship for first-year studies at the university to Tasmiyah Kalla from Star College Cape Town.
Olga Peel, Eskom Expo Regional Science Fair Director in the Cape Town region, says: “The organising committee wishes to thank the participating schools, the judges, Herzlia High School and our main sponsor Eskom, and additional sponsors, Rhodes University for sponsoring full bursaries and the University of Cape Town for a scholarship towards the cost of first year studies.”
Cecil Ramonotsi, Eskom Development Foundation Chief Executive Officer, says: “It was impressive how learners, especially previously disadvantaged learners and girls, were able to develop such innovative projects while still at school, giving assurance that the future is in good hands.
Eskom is investing in young scientists through Eskom Expo, which forms part of a broader Eskom strategy of skills development, investing in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and innovation at school level.”
