A pair of local students were amongst the winners of ANSTO’s annual ‘Big Ideas’ awards aimed at promoting science in our schools.
The prestigious national competition is open to all secondary school students nationally and gives students deep insight into what it’s like to be scientist.
The Big Ideas challenge requires students to investigate a major scientific discovery by an Australian scientist that inspires them, and then take the inspirational work and build on it to create their “Big Idea” that must be about applying science to solve a modern day problem.
To take out the national award, the two-Year 10 students from Noosa District State High School presented their report on Dr Gordon Meijs’ soft, long-wear contact lenses, while pitching their Big Idea of ‘smart contact lenses that decrease driver fatigue by measuring microsleeps’.
ANSTO’s National Education and Engagement Manager, Rod Dowler, congratulated the pair for their hard work, understanding of the project they presented, and for their amazing ‘Big Idea’.
“A huge congratulations to the students for displaying an exceptional understanding of complex problems and issues far beyond their current level of education,” Mr Dowler said.
“Their knowledge and ingenuity are proof the future of scientific discovery and innovation in Australia is in safe hands.”
The students and their teacher have won a trip to spend a week at the ANSTO Precinct in Sydney where they will get to visit the OPAL multi-purpose reactor; the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering, the Australian Centre for Accelerator Science and also the nandin innovation centre that’s all co-located on the ANSTO Precinct.
The Big Ideas experience in Sydney provides a deep insight into the wonderful opportunities involved in a STEM-based career.
“We know that having interactions with some of Australia’s best scientists and engineers will provide many of the 2021 students with an experience that will change the course of their life,” Mr Dowler said.
While we celebrate these award winners, the search is now on for the “Big Ideas 2022”.
The competition is open to all students from Years 7-10 who have a curious mind and passion for discovery. All details on how to get involved can be found at www.ansto.gov.au/big-ideas
