Science Week, organised by the National Student Travel Foundation (NSTF) in collaboration with the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST), the Malta Chamber of Scientists, Air Malta and the Italian Cultural Institute, was held at Villa Bighi, Kalkara, between March 24 and 29. Over 3,000 students from various state, Church and private schools visited the exhibition.
This year's event was extended to include students aged eight to 15 with the introduction of two new projects, NSTF School Contest for Young Scientists and the NSTF Science Art Contest.
The new projects, together with the NSTF Contest for Young Scientist project (for post-secondary school students), reached their peak with the NSTF Science Week, where all the students' work was exhibited. The display had over 30 stands, which showed research projects by secondary and post secondary students.
The exhibition also included a show entitled Science Theatre, put up by students from the Theatre Studies Programme of the University of Malta, who showed the relation between theatre and science through the use of puppets. Another show, "Star-Trek... Heading Towards the Stars", was staged by Italian company La Compagnia della Gru.
Winners of the various competitions were announced on the final night and certificates were presented. Both Wilfred Kenely, MCST chief executive officer, and Professor Richard Muscat, chairman of the panel of judges, spoke very highly of the research undertaken and the very high standard achieved by students in each competition.
Francis Stivala, NSTF secretary general, announced the winners and presented them with certificates.
In the junior section, Benjamin Bartolo of San Andrea School won the first prize in the NSTF Science Art Contest with his painting The Hot Air Balloon.
First prize for the NSTF School Contest for Young Scientists was won by Matthew J. Casha and Alan Vella from St Aloysius' College for their project 'Oil Spills'. The second and third prizes were awarded to Antoine Azzopardi and another three students, all from St Augustine College.
In this section there were 40 projects participating, of which 17 were from St Aloysius' College.
The first three prizes of the senior section competition, the NSTF Contest for Young Scientists for post secondary school students, were won by students from St Aloysius' College Sixth Form.
The winning project was entitled 'The Calculation of Pi: a teaching aid', prepared by Roberta Galea, Stephen Micallef and Francesca Stivala. These three students will be representing Malta at the EU-Contest for Young Scientists, being held in Budapest in September.
The project 'Centralised Semi-Conductor Server Liquid Cooling' was placed second and it was prepared by Neville Grech, Alan Cassar and Clint Mizzi. Third placed was the project 'P-Cam' by David Borg, Mark Farrugia and Matthew J. Grima.
The six students who placed second and third in the NSTF School Contest for Young Scientists and the winners of NSTF School Contest for Young Scientists will be participating in the Expo Science International organised by MILSET, an international science organisation, and which will be held in Moscow in July.
Normally, this event attracts over 3,000 students who exhibit and discuss their scientific research during this fair.
Thanks are due to Sandra Scicluna (NSTF head of Educational and Cultural Affairs), organiser of the Science Week, the panel of judges headed by Professor Muscat, the Italian Cultural Institute and the sponsors, Air Malta.