South Africa

Superconductors and Magnetism

In this investigation, the properties and effects of the magnetic forces, namely flux expulsion, the Meissner effect, and flux pinning, associated with superconductivity are explored and qua…

An Easy Way to Measure a Sidereal Day

Astronomy is highlighted in South Africa due to the SKA telescopes. It’s a topic few South Africans are familiar with. Studying concepts like a sidereal day creates an understanding of the h…

An Innovative Alerting Mechanism for Mobility Assistive Devices

Often physically challenged and aged persons have to rely on the use of mobility assistive devices such as walking frames to aid with their mobility, balance and support. In the event of the…

Autonomous and Configurable Energy Management System

Third Award

A compact, self-analyzing energy management system that could monitor energy usage in an industrial or domestic environment was designed, built and tested. Peak-Power management and optimal…

Generating Electricity from Mud

The purpose of this project was to build a basic fuel cell using loamy mud and use it to generate electricity. A variety of types of mud were initially used to find out which would generate…

High Protein Fynbos Nuts: A New Superfood

Second Award

An indigenous Fynbos plant, such as Leucadendron species, adapted to the Western Cape’s harsh conditions would be ideal to replace foreign crops that are grown currently because these need f…

Investigation of Platinum Substitutes as an Effective Catalyst for Hydrogen Fuel Cells

Energy: Sustainable Materials and Design

One significant problem with fuel cells is that they are costly to construct because of the expensive platinum catalyst. Palladium has similar chemical properties to platinum and is approxim…

Magnetotactic Bacteria with a Faraday Application

Second Award

The purpose of this research was to determine whether magnetised Magnetotactic Bacteria can be used to generate electricity. Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) biomineralize intracellular nanopart…

Portable Sun Tracking Solar Power Kit

An increasing human population needs more energy. The purpose of this project was to show that solar power could meet current energy demands and that a sun tracking solar charger could be mo…

The Utilisation of Organic Chemical Dyes in the Production of Dye-Sensitised Solar Cells

The use of silicon crystals in regular solar cells is extremely slow to grow and expensive. This makes traditional solar panels expensive to manufacture. A relatively new improvement to sola…

Worm Tea: Environmentally-Friendly Alternative to Artificial Fertilisers

The agricultural sector is an essential sector of the economy that is responsible for the production of food crops for sustenance and exports. To rectify the problem of poor crop quality, ar…

Ally: A Novel Approach to Online Password Generation

Embedded Systems

The aim of the project was to develop a computer application that would generate secure passwords on behalf of the user which the user does not have to store or remember. This application le…

A Novel Approach to Biometric Identification Using an Iris Scanner

Earth and Environmental Sciences Fourth Award

A biometric identification system that is coded in Java language on Netbeans IDE which automatically identifies a person by comparing previously scanned bitcodes of their iris. The purpose o…

A Vibrating Device to Assist Visually Impaired Athletes

Energy: Chemical

Visually impaired athletes that participate in the 100 meter sprint event typically run with guides. The guide runs besides the athlete and is joined by a non-elastic rope. However, this tec…

Evaluation of Balance Skills in Male Subjects Aged 6-7 Years

Mathematics

The purpose of this investigation was to measure and compare the balance ability of male soccer players and sedentary control subjects between ages 6-7. 50 male soccer players and 50 male se…

Green Algae as a Viable Substrate in a Microbial Fuel Cell

Engineering Mechanics

Microbial fuel cells generate electricity through bacterial decomposition of waste matter. Recently various materials have been investigated as potential electricity producing substrates in…

Investigating a Relationship between Coronal Mass Ejections and the Solar Sun Spot Cycle

Microbiology

The aim of this project was to explore the relationship between Coronal Mass Ejections (CME’s) and the Solar Sun Spot Cycle. CME’s and the Solar Sunspot Cycle are both caused by intense acti…

Investigation into Whether Teenagers Read Faster and Retain More Information When Tested Using Various Media

Chemistry

With the increasing use of digital devices in the classrooms the aim of this project was to determine if the reading speed and retention of information of teenagers benefited from the use of…

The Intelligent Energy Saving Power Strip

Energy: Chemical

An electrical circuit was designed and placed inside a power strip to save electricity . It saved electricity used by secondary appliances (which required primary appliances to function) tha…

Using an Underwater Trench to Limit the Energy of a Tsunami

Energy: Chemical

Currently, the methods used to minimize the loss that a tsunami could cause are, for differing reasons, not effective enough. Breakwaters are also often not strong enough to combat a tsunami…

Utilizing Pine Cone Briquettes as an Alternative Energy Source

Engineering Mechanics Fourth Award

The purpose of this project was to create an efficient, reliable, low-cost and alternative source of energy from pine cones. Mature female Pinus coulteri cones were used in the study. In the…

Utilizing UV-rays to Eradicate Micro-Organisms on Healthcare Workers Cellular Phones to Prevent Cross-Infection

Robotics and Intelligent Machines Third Award

Hospital-acquired infections are becoming increasingly numerous and difficult to manage. There are strict regulations in most hospitals regarding infection control however these are scarce r…