Eleven teenagers from across South Africa are currently battling it out with hundreds of other young scientists from around the globe for the coveted grand prize at the 2015 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF).
ISEF is an annual science fair held in Pittsburgh, USA that brings together youngsters who have competed and won national science fairs in their respective countries’.
Twenty six other learners from Kenya and Nigeria are also representing Africa at the competition which began on Monday and rounds up this Friday, the 15th May where the winner will be announced and receive The Gordon E Moore Award comprising a cash prize of $75 000 (around R900 000).
Other prizes in the competition include:
- The Intel Foundation Young Scientists Award – Two Gordon E. Moore Award runners-up, selected from the Best of Category winners, are awarded $50 000 (R600 000) each.
- The Dudley R. Herschbach SIYSS Award – Three finalists are selected to receive all-expenses-paid trips to attend the Stockholm International Youth Science Seminar (SIYSS), including attendance at the Nobel Prize ceremonies in Sweden.
- Intel ISEF Best of Category Awards – Best of Category projects, selected from the competition’s 17 categories, receive $5 000 (R60 000) awards from the Intel Foundation.$ 1 000 (R6 000) grants are awarded to the winners’ schools and the affiliated fairs they represent.
- Intel ISEF Grand Awards – The Intel Foundation provides Grand Awards for first, second, third, and fourth places in each category. Awards are $3 000 (R36 000), $1 500 (R18 000), $1 000 (R12 000), and $500 (R6 000), respectively.
A total of 1 700 learners are showcasing the best innovations in science and engineering across 20 categories and of the 78 countries participating, 19 have a higher representation of females than males with six countries entering the same number of male and female students.
“Although the shift is positive, 17 countries still do not have female representation indicating that the fields of science and engineering need to do more to attract the interest of female students. Coupled with this, more must be done to groom the abundant raw talent available,” Intel said in a statement.
Below is a list of the names of all the African representatives.
Country | City | First Name | Surname |
Kenya | Nairobi | Dulari | Varsani |
Kenya | Nairobi | Jaspreet | Matharu |
Kenya | Nairobi | Siddeeq | Parpia |
Kenya | Nairobi | Jamaldin | Mohammed |
Nigeria | Lagos | Oluwanifemi | Bolawole |
Nigeria | Lagos | Oluwafisayomi | Fatoye |
Nigeria | Lagos | Emmanuel | Adegbile |
Nigeria | Ogun State | Abiola | Omosowon |
Nigeria | Funtua | Umar | Bala |
Nigeria | Funtua | Ahmad | Auwal |
Nigeria | Ipaja, Lagos | Omogbolahan | Bruce |
Nigeria | Lagos | Desola | Damola Okesiji |
Nigeria | Lagos | Omotayo | Akinola |
South Africa | Cape Town | Roland | Dubb |
South Africa | Pretoria | Armand | Duvenage |
South Africa | Ladysmith | Nishka | Ramkhelawan |
South Africa | Secunda | Siyabonga | Nkosi |
South Africa | Durban | Tyrique | Byroo |
South Africa | Cape Town | Fritz | Keyzer |
South Africa | Cape Town | Josiah | Senior |
South Africa | Pretoria | Bernard | Smit |
South Africa | Bloemfontein | Iselle | Van Den Heever |
South Africa | Cape Town | Anna | Midgley |
South Africa | Kokstad | Avuyile | Mbangatha |
[Image – Societyforscience.org]