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Schoolboy pair wins BHP Billiton Science Award CSIRO Media Release – 8 February 2007

Student Finalists, BHP Billiton Science Awards 2007 Image credit – Mark Fergus, CSIRO	Ian Cannon and Rickystan Savaiko, Year 12 (2006) Redeemer Baptist School, North Parramatta, NSW First Prize Winners for their entry – Versatile Colour Identification and Luminance Contrast Determination Image credit – Mark Fergus, CSIRO Ian and Rickystan have developed a prototype of a portable photometric device that determines the luminance contrast between two adjacent surfaces. Their device could be useful in improving building design and making spaces more accessible to vision-impaired people. As part of their research, they have also developed a unique mathematical algorithm to determine luminance contrast.
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Megan Weller, Year 12 (2006) Kingaroy State High School, Kingaroy, Queensland Winner GRDC Award for the best environmental project – Are peanuts able to effectively germinate from intact pods? Image credit – Mark Fergus, CSIRO	Robbie Bishop-Taylor, Year 10 (2006) Great Lakes College, Forster, NSW Second Prize for his research project – The Identification of Critical Salinity Thresholds in Upper Estaurine Plants Image credit – Mark Fergus, CSIRO Parts of Australia are facing a water shortage. Reduced river flows mean that salt can accumulate in estuarine areas at higher levels than normal. Robbie looked at the critical salinity levels that 5 common upper estuarine plants could tolerate.
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Ann Burke, Marist Regional College, Burnie, Tasmania Winning Teacher, BHP Billiton Science Teacher Awards Image credit – Mark Fergus, CSIRO	Marcus Littlewood and James Dawson-Smith, Year 8 (2006) Scotch College, Hawthorn, Victoria Third Prize and Winners of ISEF prize which involves a trip to US to compete in the International Science and Engineering Fair in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Their research project was titled – MP3 Players and Noise Induced Hearing Loss Image credit – Mark Fergus, CSIRO They investigated whether people were using MP3 players in a way that could damage their hearing. They compared their results to acceptable OHS levels for acceptable noise exposure limits. As a result several of their friends have turned down the volume on their MP3s.
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Teacher Finalists 2007 Image credit – Mark Fergus, CSIRO Teacher finalists nominated by various STAs (Science Teacher Associations) in Australia plus CREST. (L-R) Roy Skinner CREST, Anne Langsford, SA, Annie Termaat, ACT, Ann Burke, (Winning Teacher) TAS, Peter Craig, VIC, Penny Kelliher, WA, Mason Scholes, NT and Robyn Zipf, QLD.
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