Young Kiwi Bright Sparks Shine

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Young Kiwi Bright Sparks Shine As Awards Winners Announced

Lower Hutt Bright Spark Liam Ellis has scooped the pool in the 2009 Bright Sparks Competition - a contest which sees dozens of young hi-tech enthusiasts spending hours racking their brains in hopes of developing technology’s next big thing!

Hutt Valley High School student, Liam has won 1st place in the much contested 17years+ category of the prestigious Bright Sparks Competition for the third year in a row! And, joining Liam in the top echelons of young hi-tech ingenuity are three Mt Roskill Grammar students, Kevin Huang, Nikhil Mahashabde and Abhilash Kamineni, who beat out many worthy contenders to take out 2nd and 3rd= respectively with their ingenious inventions.

All four top place-getters, along with Logan Glasson [who won the 13-14 years category], have been selected by the Royal Society of New Zealand to attend Realise the Dream in Wellington, a week-long programme in December designed to develop top young performers across all areas of endeavour!

And to top it off, thirteen year old Logan, of Christchurch’s Burnside High School, took out the inaugural People’s Choice Award with his LED Superdisplay. Thanks to the over 1300 people who voted!

Over 70 creative young inventors from throughout New Zealand took part in this year’s Bright Sparks Competition and Bright Sparks judge Ross Petersen has been delighted with the calibre of the entries. “The standard has been even higher than last year, and that’s saying something. It’s inspiring that students this young are already carving a niche for themselves in the hi-tech arena and it bodes well for the future of New Zealand’s hi-tech industry!”

Visit www.BrightSparksAwards.orgnz for a full list of results!

Top winning projects include:
AVERT – LIAM ELLIS, 18 – 1st place, 17 years+ category

Using a sponsored shirt from skin-tight clothing manufacturer SKINS and a series of variable resistors, AVERT aims to avert bad posture by monitoring your vertebrae. Setting the programme to your perfect posture, the device then alerts you when you start to slouch!

REMOTE CONTROLLED LAWNMOWER – KEVIN HUANG, 18 – 2nd place, 17 years+ category
Crafting the body himself and importing sophisticated radio control equipment from Britain, this Mt Roskill Grammar student installed recycled car windscreen wipers to steer this visually impressive lawnmower. And, not only does it feature ideal sponsor’s logos, it has the financial backing of the Prime Minister – Kevin secured a $250 sponsorship from none other than our very own John Key!

NSR TRANSFER – ABHILASH KAMINENI, 18, 3rd = place, 17 years+ category
Driven to develop a portable USB device which allows for files to be transferred without the need for a computer, Abhilash created NSR Transfer. More sophisticated than comparable gadgets on the market, the NSR Transfer incorporates a touch screen interface.

SPYNIK – NIKHIL MAHASHABDE, 18 – 3rd = place, 17 years+ category
This invention enables the user to monitor internet use from any computer anywhere through a specifically designed website. Being a hardware as well as a software solution, it cannot be hacked or bypassed and is an excellent way to keep tabs on what your kids are getting up to on the internet.

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