Final Report Summary - EYSCTS (European young scientist contest television series)
The aim of the EYSCTS programmes was to stimulate the interest in science education for young people and to create general awareness for science among the general public. This project was aiming at the production of 2 x 30 minutes television programmes on the European Young Scientist Contest, which has been held in Valencia on 14 - 19 September 2007.
The selection criteria for the national winners and their research projects to be presented in the programmes were:
- projects from four different countries;
- preferably young people (15 - 18 years);
- at least one girl;
- research projects and the stories of the winners should be attractive for television production.
After research of all the projects by contacting national coordinators and the national winners we selected four potential candidates and research projects:
Energy from maize straw - Austria. This project focused on maize straw and its possible uses in generating energy. Every year large quantities of maize straw are left over on farms without there being any effective use for it. The high fibre and cellulose content in particular make it difficult to generate energy from it, something that calls for an appropriate process. The reason is that bacteria attack the maize straw only slowly, which in turn slows down the conversion to methane. This is precisely where this research comes in, with the aim of developing a new treatment process for materials rich in cellulose. A simple test unit was built to begin with to optimise the energy generation process. Then two pre-treatment methods which both enable more efficient generation of biogas were developed. The test results show quite clearly that the pre-treatment of biogenic materials has a positive effect on the gas yield in biogas production.
Motorbike slipper clutch - Czech Republic. This project was about new race slipper clutches for Ducati motorcycles and its racing use. It was decided to work with Ducati, because this Italian motorcycle brand and the people working with it are very unique and always bring along a lot of passion. The preparation of the new specifications and the testing of it were studied. During the work the team got into the fascinating world of racing and cooperated with its main actors. Thanks to that very special materials and points of view were gathered. Nowadays they are used in the home race team, which is very proud to be part of the achievements of Jakub Smr who races in the Ducati NCR team.
Water Rockets - Italy. In a water rocket both air and water are kept in a tank (obtained from a PET bottle), and air is forced in the tank under pressure. This is in order to assure that when the rocket is freed from the ground, the air will start expanding, pushing water out from the tank. As the water flows out from the tank, a thrust is produced, because of the third principle of dynamics. When the velocity is equal to zero, the rocket inverts its direction, and begins a naturally accelerated motion until it hits the ground. The point of zero velocity is called rocket's apogee, and represents the maximum height reachable from the rocket. The main evolution of the project in the future could be the generalisation of the conclusions.
Absorption of chromium (Cr) ions - United Kingdom. A method to remove Cr ions from water involves reducing Cr (VI) to Cr (III) using a metal oxide and photo catalyst, and an alumino silicate to absorb the Cr (III). This project was centred on developing a method to quantify Cr (III) and (VI) in solutions. An electron microscope and EDAX was used to prove the effectiveness of the alumina-silicate in absorbing the Cr, and ultraviolet Winlab and Dionex ion chromatography was used to design a method to determine unknown quantities of Cr ions.
The latter part of the documentary was all around the students meeting the other students in Valencia, to show the variety of all the projects, and students, as well as following the four finalists, to see how they get on in the final competition. The broadcasting of the programmes in the various countries started from 10 March 2008 on in the United Kingdom, followed by the other countries according to their broadcasting schedules.
The selection criteria for the national winners and their research projects to be presented in the programmes were:
- projects from four different countries;
- preferably young people (15 - 18 years);
- at least one girl;
- research projects and the stories of the winners should be attractive for television production.
After research of all the projects by contacting national coordinators and the national winners we selected four potential candidates and research projects:
Energy from maize straw - Austria. This project focused on maize straw and its possible uses in generating energy. Every year large quantities of maize straw are left over on farms without there being any effective use for it. The high fibre and cellulose content in particular make it difficult to generate energy from it, something that calls for an appropriate process. The reason is that bacteria attack the maize straw only slowly, which in turn slows down the conversion to methane. This is precisely where this research comes in, with the aim of developing a new treatment process for materials rich in cellulose. A simple test unit was built to begin with to optimise the energy generation process. Then two pre-treatment methods which both enable more efficient generation of biogas were developed. The test results show quite clearly that the pre-treatment of biogenic materials has a positive effect on the gas yield in biogas production.
Motorbike slipper clutch - Czech Republic. This project was about new race slipper clutches for Ducati motorcycles and its racing use. It was decided to work with Ducati, because this Italian motorcycle brand and the people working with it are very unique and always bring along a lot of passion. The preparation of the new specifications and the testing of it were studied. During the work the team got into the fascinating world of racing and cooperated with its main actors. Thanks to that very special materials and points of view were gathered. Nowadays they are used in the home race team, which is very proud to be part of the achievements of Jakub Smr who races in the Ducati NCR team.
Water Rockets - Italy. In a water rocket both air and water are kept in a tank (obtained from a PET bottle), and air is forced in the tank under pressure. This is in order to assure that when the rocket is freed from the ground, the air will start expanding, pushing water out from the tank. As the water flows out from the tank, a thrust is produced, because of the third principle of dynamics. When the velocity is equal to zero, the rocket inverts its direction, and begins a naturally accelerated motion until it hits the ground. The point of zero velocity is called rocket's apogee, and represents the maximum height reachable from the rocket. The main evolution of the project in the future could be the generalisation of the conclusions.
Absorption of chromium (Cr) ions - United Kingdom. A method to remove Cr ions from water involves reducing Cr (VI) to Cr (III) using a metal oxide and photo catalyst, and an alumino silicate to absorb the Cr (III). This project was centred on developing a method to quantify Cr (III) and (VI) in solutions. An electron microscope and EDAX was used to prove the effectiveness of the alumina-silicate in absorbing the Cr, and ultraviolet Winlab and Dionex ion chromatography was used to design a method to determine unknown quantities of Cr ions.
The latter part of the documentary was all around the students meeting the other students in Valencia, to show the variety of all the projects, and students, as well as following the four finalists, to see how they get on in the final competition. The broadcasting of the programmes in the various countries started from 10 March 2008 on in the United Kingdom, followed by the other countries according to their broadcasting schedules.
