North East
Science and Technology Fair 2007
BA Crest North East Science and Technology Fair 2007
On Friday 6th July the Great Hall at DurhamCastle was filled with school students from around the region setting up stalls to display their project work. As in previous years, the Institute awarded prizes to the two projects which best demonstrated aspects of physics. This year the two winners both came from King Edward VI School, Morpeth.
Angharad Porteous was the first prize winner. She describes her Solar Survival System as: “a product for use in remote environments which have no other means of power. The system harnesses solar energy to provide power to charge a mobile phone/GPS battery. There is a small 2W solar panel which charges a battery via an interface voltage regulator circuit. The system also has a trough reflector where the light can be focused on to a copper piping circuit full of water.
"The light energy is then transferred into heat energy, hence heating the water up. When the water has been at a temperature of 65 degrees for six minutes it is safe to drink as it has been pasteurised. These two parts have been integrated into a portable product which can aid self survival in remote environments. The system was designed for a market including walkers on expedition, military on deployment, sailors, mountaineers and for use in developing countries. During the project I carried out research and testing at the Northumbria University Photovoltaic Research Centre and NaREC (New and Renewable Energy Centre) in Blyth.”
This autumn, Angharad has gone to Jesus College, Cambridge to read a degree in engineering.
Matthew Kitson’s project was the runner up. His team was asked: ‘to develop a new design for the Royal Air Forces existing gust lock: a device that stops the Sea King helicopters tail rotor blades from moving, hitting off the bearings and damaging them. The brief was to come up with a design that worked without the use of ladders or any other tools as these take up space inside the helicopter, reducing space for carrying casualties.’
Matthew is currently in Year 13 at King Edward V1.
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