If you are looking for ways to
inspire your science students, look no further than this year's National
Science & Engineering Competition winners.
Emily O'Regan was named UK Young
Scientist of the Year 2013 at the annual awards ceremony, while
fellow winner Fred Turner was made the UK Young Engineer of the
Year 2013.
Celebrity judge, Ben Miller, was
enthusiatistic about the standard of all of the entrants' work:
"I passionately believe that science and engineering are vital
to our future. These outstanding projects by Emily and Fred show
just how bright that future is in the UK and I can't wait to see
what they do with their highly promising careers. I hope young
people everywhere feel inspired to follow in their
footsteps."
Emily's work on the endangered
Chillean flamingo (Phoenicopterus chilensis) involved
studying the birds' mating and breeding habits. She was working
with a captive group, which had stopped breeding seven years ago,
and she set about finding out why this had happened.
Young engineer Fred Turner
impressed the judges with a home-made PCR machine for testing
genes.
These instruments, used to study
sections of DNA, can cost up to £3,000. Fred built one from
scratch in his cellar, and his project focused on the challenges
and obstacles he faced in order to do so. He explained to the
judges that he wanted to do some genetic investigations of his
own. He is interested to see the genetic mutations that mean
his mum and brother have ginger hair, whereas he doesn't.
The entries for the National
Science + Engineering Competition 2014 are now open.