MARCH 1999:  Willetton HS Students Win National Competition

Year 10 students from Willetton Senior High School have won a national competition asking students to come up with their most innovative design for a boat powered by alternative energy sources.

Thanks to their innovative design for a solar-powered boat, the students will travel to Canberra, receive a solar-powered boat and compete in this year's Bayer Solar and Advanced-Technology Boat Race on 1 May during the Australian Science Festival.

Students Simon Hydzik, Laurren Vegar and Joanna Nicholas came up with their design under the guidance of teacher Mr Hao Ta. "It's a real thrill to have won the competition," said Mr Ta. "It's great that the kids hard work has paid off. They put in a lot of after school hours on the project and are very excited about the trip to Canberra," he said. In fact, for Mr Ta, Laurren and Joanna, this will be their first ever trip to Canberra.

The students will receive a one-person solar-powered boat. Called Moscow I, the boat was donated by Alexandr Popolov. It was designed and constructed by Mr Popolov who travelled from Russia to compete in last year's Bayer Solar and Advanced-Technology Boat Race.

The students will receive lessons on how to work the boat, and will take turns to pilot it during the race on Lake Burley Griffin. They will be in the running to win a Toshiba Satellite 2520CDT notebook computer valued at almost $4,000.

As part of Willetton High School's "gifted and talented students" program, Year 9 and 10 students are encouraged to take on research projects. The winning students chose the "Win a solar boat" competition as a project last year and spent two months researching their entry on the internet and contacting relevant local manufacturers for advice.

Their winning design was judged by the Bayer Solar and Advanced-Technology Boat Race Committee on the basis of its innovation, design methodology, understanding of the physics involved, design description, environmental considerations and overall presentation.

The competition is jointly sponsored by the Australian Science Festival and race sponsor, Bayer Australia. Managing Director for Bayer Australia, Mr Juergen Selck said, "On behalf of Bayer Australia, I would like to congratulate Mr Ta, Simon, Joanna and Laurren on their excellent entry. I hope that their efforts will inspire other students to pursue the cause of sustainable development and enter the Bayer Solar and Advanced-Technology Boat Race."

Perhaps the reasons for pursuing the cause of sustainable development are best summed up by the students themselves in their winning entry, "By using solar technology, we are creating absolutely no pollution, which is excellent for the environment. Our solar boat design would produce no harmful fumes. These fumes can not only be damaging to the environment but also to us humans," wrote the students.