Each year, around seven million secondary school students around the globe develop solely original research projects and showcase their work at local science competitions with the hope of making it to the Intel ISEF. This year five students from Karachi, both boys and girls, will be representing the country at Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2014 in Los Angeles in the month of May. However, only the cream of the lot and the exceptionally smart ones, about 1,600 winners of local and national competitions are given the opportunity to participate in the week-long celebration of science, technology, engineering and math. These students also compete for more than US$4 million in awards and scholarships.
Sidra Riaz
Her research project is aimed at preventing the destruction of the ozone layer at low cost, and it is a most efficient and easy way to assemble an Environmental Pollution Filter. For more than two decades now, environmental pollution has been one of the biggest nuisances to mankind. One of the biggest sources of this pollution is the generation of CFCs in Industries which spread out in the form of gases in the environment.
We humans need to inhale pure air to improve our health but pollutants, such as carbon dioxide present in the air carbon monoxide, and methane could cause respiratory diseases, in severe cases even leading to death. Smoke, discharged from industries, automobiles and kitchens is one of the root causes of air pollution.
And this is why Sidra has decided to work on a filter which will absorb and control these pollutants at the source of their generation before they are actually able to mix in and pollute the air as well as destroy the ozone layer.
The new filter is based on a cooling process and can be attached at the top of the chimneys of the industries. Before the polluted gases enter into the atmosphere, this filter will cool it at low temperature provided by the system attached or a heat pump. As the temperature goes down gasses will liquefy and get stored in separate chamber. The designed filter is low in cost, easy to assemble and rather efficient.
Syed Talal Waseem
In many well developed countries around the world, the concept of spies has been replaced by robots, the reason being simply that a robot can do the job in a much better way. The project is designed by controlling a RC car via computer USB port using software designed in C#. The car has been fixed with a camera because its sole function is to act spy.
The computer sends signals to a microcontroller which processes the information/command sent and then transmits it via RF to a decoder on the car which then drives the car with an L293d H-bridge. The circuit has been designed so that it can easily be transferred to a helicopter or airplane to make other ‘spy vehicles’ if needed. The car also has bright surveillance lights for night time spying.
Future updates will include adding ultrasound obstacle detection system, increasing the range of the device, the current range being 100m at most; creating picture analysis software that can process the image and encircle suspicious areas, and the addition of a microphone to hear the sounds in the surrounding areas.
Pakistani children have a lot of talent. All they need is a platform to exhibit their abilities. Intel Science Fair is one of those platforms that not only give us a chance to get our projects evaluated but also meet professionals who can guide us.
The Intel science fair was a great experience for me. His parents, teacher and college helped him a lot to reach the national science fair. Since his childhood he has been very interested in electronics. He mentioned how he used to open up his toys to see how they worked and then used the parts to create new things. As he grew older his father, who is also very interested in electronics, bought more components and books for him so he could learn more advanced things related to electronics.
He started his project by first learning the C# language and then applying it in his project. He faced a lot of problems while making the software and models but with his teachers’ help he managed a working prototype.
As Syed Talal said, “The Intel National Science Fair was another outstanding experience. In those 4 days I learned a lot. I did not hope to get selected for the competition in the US because there were so many outstanding projects but when my name was called I was overjoyed and proud to be able to represent my country at Intel ISEF.” He further hopes that Intel will continue with competitions such as the Intel ISEF for many years to come.
Muhammad Tahir
He is a student, studying at Defence Authority Sheikh Khalifa bin Zaid College.
When asked why he came up with this project, he mentioned Haris bin Ashraf his partner for this project and a finalist from last year. Their project is about making more refined petroleum products. They mentioned that, if successful, their project could bring about great change in the way petroleum products are made. For Haris, the Intel ISEF is all about hard work and the winning does not really matter. As Tahir said, “I would say that people should come forward and take part in such events as this platform provided by Intel is a great opportunity to prove your talent and we being representatives of our country are going to do our best. Pakistan Zindabad!”
Haris bin Ashraf
Another student from DASKBZ College working on a project along with his team mates is turning plastic into combustible oil which is basically performing the destructive distillation of plastic garbage by heating it in the absence of air. We are using a special kind of catalyst to lower down the melting point of plastic so that the energy intake level is lowered. Also, by doing this we are cutting down the cost of this process and thereby we are introducing a new way to convert plastic into something that is useful and beneficial to mankind at a very low cost. So as a result we got a petroleum product which has remarkable properties as crude oil at a very low cost. This project he believes is very economical and very commercially viable and that such projects should be carried out at a larger production as it can be very beneficial to mankind. From the very beginning of this he has focused on one thing, hard work never goes unpaid. So him along with his team members have focused on this and when we got the results of this experiment we submitted it to Intel. Having the experience of going to the event last year Haris had a fair idea while working on the project. After getting chosen at a district level at first, then national and now international they all have great expectations from this as he went last year he has an idea as to how the projects are going to be so this way he has a chance at evaluating himself better and prove himself to the judges.
He concludes saying,
“This has been an outstanding platform provided by Intel and I am thankful to them as they provide us with an opportunity where our work is judged by successful top notch judges, that no other organization has to offer us in Pakistan.”
Muhammad Babar Shah
A student from DASKBZ College, in his first year and his project is about the conversion of cheap plastic into combustible oil. While mentioning the challenge, he mentioned that when they were selected at a national level they did not have the financial aid to go to Islamabad, however they were luvky enough to be supported by their college. The respected teachers Ma’am Erum, Ma’am Huma their chemistry teacher helped them a great deal and supported them so we can go to Islamabad. This is the first time all of them are going on a national level and their team mate Haris bin Ashraf has already been a part of this and won, but he feels nervous as such a big organization is organizing this event and I’m expecting something good out of it. He ended saying,
“I am thankful to Intel to be giving me this opportunity who organizes this event on such a big scale, and hopefully we will make our name at an international level and make our country proud of us.
Pakistan Zindabad!”
We wish all the best to these selected finalists to go have a great time, learn and have the experience of a lifetime!
