Auckland Student 3rd At International Science Fair

Auckland Student 3rd At Prestigious International Science Fair

Auckland student Sohail Abdulla placed third in the Engineering: Electrical and Mechanical award at the prestigious Intel ISEF competition in Phoenix, USA last week.

His entry, a robotic window cleaner, led him to being featured on US TV, including on the Fox network.

The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) is the world's largest international pre-college science competition.

Sohail’s inspiration came from seeing his father struggling to clean the windows of his family home.

Sohail,17, developed the prototype in his Mt Roskill Grammar technology class under the guidance of his teacher, Bill Collis.

Collis nominated him for The Skills Organisation’s Bright Sparks 2012 competition.

The Skills Organisation put Sohail forward for the Royal Society’s Realise the Dream competition where he won the US Ambassador’s Award and the opportunity to travel to Phoenix.

Sohail, who arrived home yesterday, was New Zealand’s sole Intel ISEF representative. The competition attracted 1500 entries.

Sohail said he was extremely honoured to receive his award.

“I felt so proud. From Bright Sparks to Realise The Dream and now to Intel ISEF… wow.

“I will cherish these moments for the rest of my life and I hope to share my experiences with the next Intel ISEF finalist from New Zealand.”

As well as his award, he also received US$1000.

Sohail said he planned to continue perfecting his robotic glass cleaner and start a business in future.

“I constantly have many different ideas for mechatronic projects - from automatic wheelchairs designed for broken stairs in third-world countries to a laser fly- or mosquito-killing machine.” 

ENDS

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