Bulletin

Issue: November/December 2005

News

Energetic young scientists show their stuff

La Trobe University in November hosted the annual Science Talent Search on its main Melbourne campus at Bundoora. Conducted by the Science Teachers’ Association of Victoria since the 1952, the ‘Search’ is one of the longest-running and most successful programs of its type in the world. More than 700 bursary-winning exhibits from 164 schools were awarded $25,000 prize money from sponsors.

The La Trobe Faculty of Science, Technology and Engineering is a major sponsor of the Search, and has hosted the annual awards ceremony and exhibition for the past 16 years.

This year’s theme, Energy: Future Challenges, drew more than 2,200 entries, demonstrating the breadth of scientific talent among Victorian school children. Winning inventions ranged from a gutter cleaner, ore crusher and waste water electricity generator to solar catamarans, wind turbines and an infra-red water saver.

Opening the exhibition, La Trobe Dean of Science, Technology and Engineering, Professor David Finlay, encouraged students to continue their interest in science, to university and beyond.

‘The exciting thing about an event like this is that somewhere in this hall there may be a future Nobel Prize winner, or an inventor who will go on to make a great difference.’