MCAST students win top prizes in contest for young scientists

MCAST students won all top three prizes at the 2008 National Student Travel Foundation (NSTF) contest for young scientists. The contest, organised by NSTF Malta, was held at St James Cavalier during Science Week last month and adjudicated by a panel of independent expert judges.

First prize went to a project entitled 'Biological and Non-Biological - Is There a Difference?' which sought to explain whether there is any difference between biological and non- biological washing powders in terms of their ability to reduce or completely eliminate the presence of microorganisms in clothes being washed.

It was carried out by Dorianne Calleja and Anthea Zammit, students enrolled in the MCAST Institute of Community Services, with the support of Ismael Gauci a third year colleague in the Applied Science course, who provided original ideas and advice.

The project will now go on to take part in the 20th edition of the EU Contest for Young Scientists to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark. The contest is a European Commission initiative set up to promote the ideals of co-operation and interchange between young scientists. It is the annual showcase of the best of European student scientific achievement, giving students the opportunity to meet and compete with their best European counterparts with similar abilities and interests and be guided by some of the most prominent scientists in Europe.

The project 'Object Separation vs Pick-and-Place' placed second. It involved carrying out bitmap recognition using a video capture board to sort different items on an assembly line using edge detection carried out by the scanning and vertically marking of zeros and ones.

It was carried out by Alessandro Vella, a student in the MCAST diploma course in industrial electronics, mentored by Ronald Curmi, deputy director of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering. Mr Vella will be participating in the Science Expo Europe 2008 to be held in Budapest, Hungary, between July 13 and 20.

Third prize went to the project 'Fermentation By-Products in Beer'. It investigated the amount of the chemical sulfur dioxide in beer, and explained what sulfur dioxide is and its importance in the brewing industry. The project was carried out by Bernice Bonello, another student in the Institute of Community Services, assisted by colleagues Roderick Grech and André Attard, who are currently undertaking the work placement component of their course at Simonds Farsons Cisk plc.

The project will also be participating in the Science Expo Europe 2008 in Budapest, and the University of Malta has asked for the project to be used as a model by its students during their chemistry practical experiments.

The students at the Institute of Community Services are enrolled in the BTEC national diploma in applied science course. Scientific investigation is a core unit within the course, requiring students to carry out practical innovative scientific investigations. This course unit is taught by Maria Pia Griscti, who supervised both projects from the conceptual stage and throughout the competition.

In 2006, a project by two MCAST applied science course students had also placed second in the NSTF contest for young scientists.