Results for Science Fair 2023
Congratulations to all the winners and huge thanks to everyone that entered. The standard of projects this year was outstanding!
Please note that the prize value indicated may not necessarily be awarded to a single exhibit nor the full value awarded. Special Prizes may be sub-divided at the Judge’s discretion, and be awarded to a number of exhibits.
2023 Winners
| Prize | Class | Student names | Project Title | School |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NIWA Prize for best overall exhibit | 5 - 3 | Jesse Rumball Smith | "Driving Nudging Towards Zero: Technology to Reinforce Safe Driving" | Wellington College |
| Royal Society of NZ Wellington Branch Prize for the runner-up best overall exhibit | 3 - 31 | Isabelle Aduna | Riding the Waves | Wellington Girls College |
| Te Herenga Waka -- Victoria University of Wellington Faculty of Science Innovation Prize | 5 - 3 | Jesse Rumball Smith | "Driving Nudging Towards Zero: Technology to Reinforce Safe Driving" | Wellington College |
| Te Herenga Waka -- Victoria University of Wellington Faculty of Science Prize | 3 - 31 | Isabelle Aduna | Riding the Waves | Wellington Girls College |
| First in Class 1 | 1 - 94 | Gabriel Anthony | I Sci With My A.Eye; Using Artificial Intelligence to recognise Science teachers | Whitby Collegiate |
| Second in Class 1 | 1 - 58 | Curtis Williams | Buzz Off | Seatoun School |
| Third = in Class 1 | 1 - 92 | Aanya Badiyani, Kaavya Badiyani | Vaping - Smoking without Fire | Whitby Collegiate |
| Third = in Class 1 | 1 - 72 | Bhavia Parmar | Mouthwash, the Germ Fighter | St Mark's Church School |
| First in Class 2 | 2 - 130 | Elise Hargreaves | Rongoā Rakau vs Pharmaceutical Antacid Remedies | Wadestown School |
| Second in Class 2 | 2 - 91 | Zayan Abbasi | A Smarter Future, Now | Rāroa Normal Intermediate School |
| Third in Class 2 | 2 - 16 | Jessie Casey | Paua's as big as your face! But is the Marine Reserve working? | Evans Bay Intermediate School |
| Fourth in Class 2 | 2 - 137 | Will Mckee | Is A.I Sexist | Wadestown School |
| First in Class 3 | 3 - 31 | Isabelle Aduna | Riding the Waves | Wellington Girls College |
| Second in Class 3 | 3 - 17 | Edward Usher | We all scream for sunscreen | Scots College |
| Third in Class 3 | 3 - 2 | Chris Gray, Loukas Winata | The force is strong with this one | Rongotai College |
| First in Class 4 | 4 - 11 | Nevaeh Hickey | Does caffeine affect your sleep? | Tawa College |
| Second in Class 4 | 4 - 9 | Stan Brough, Thomas Wilson | Is Wellington Wax surf wax better than other brands | Rongotai College |
| Third in Class 4 | 4 - 7 | Lewis Brown | BioBlaze | Rongotai College |
| First in Class 5 | 5 - 3 | Jesse Rumball Smith | "Driving Nudging Towards Zero: Technology to Reinforce Safe Driving" | Wellington College |
| Second in Class 5 | 5 - 1 | Calla Rix, Kaita Hummel-Jibiki | Stream Team | Tawa College |
| Third in Class 5 | 5 - 4 | Charlie Chen | Jet refraction | Wellington High School |
| Fourth in Class 5 | 5 - 2 | Luke Scott-Hill | Unveiling the Mysteries of Space and Time | Tawa College |
| Highly Commended | 1 - 11 | Luis Ehrmann | Walnut Weight Sorting Machine | Evans Bay Intermediate School |
| Highly Commended | 1 - 29 | Rosemary Underwood | The Nose Knows | Korokoro School |
| Highly Commended | 1 - 30 | Scarlett de Ronde | How does acid affect seashells? | Korokoro School |
| Highly Commended | 1 - 34 | Mira Deyab | Topology | Newlands Intermediate School |
| Highly Commended | 1 - 41 | Harriet Small | You Ain't Seen Muffin Yet! | Northland School |
| Highly Commended | 1 - 43 | Monty Orange | Monty’s Mushrooms | Northland School |
| Highly Commended | 1 - 56 | Anais Mancencal Sellier | Your Tiny Body Guards | Seatoun School |
| Highly Commended | 1 - 63 | Isaac Puji | Meltdown | Seatoun School |
| Highly Commended | 1 - 68 | Kathryn Mostert | Earthquake danger | St Benedicts |
| Highly Commended | 1 - 71 | Sebastian Davy | The science behind the paper plane | St Benedicts |
| Highly Commended | 1 - 85 | Harriet Dreyer | Feed the Worms | Wadestown School |
| Highly Commended | 1 - 90 | Thomas Taylor | Upstream? Downstream? Does it make a difference? | Wadestown School |
| Highly Commended | 1 - 91 | Zara Delahunty | What makes it Grow? | Wadestown School |
| Highly Commended | 2 - 12 | Eddie Barnes, Hanna Bungert, Adam Jokuti | Cereal Killers! | Evans Bay Intermediate School |
| Highly Commended | 2 - 103 | Jack McDougall | Puzzling Probability | St Benedicts |
| Highly Commended | 2 - 134 | Lucy Gray | Planting by the Nights of Maramataka | Wadestown School |
| Highly Commended | 2 - 31 | Jacob Williams | Are solar tracker systems worth it? | Hutt Intermediate School |
| Highly Commended | 2 - 40 | Alex Curwen | Plane Manoeuvrability | Muritai School |
| Highly Commended | 2 - 44 | Izzy Longson | Do Different Situations Affect Boys and Girls Differently? | Muritai School |
| Highly Commended | 2 - 53 | Louise Walker | Infrared Investigation | Northland School |
| Highly Commended | 2 - 55 | Seren Raybould | The Art of Music | Northland School |
| Highly Commended | 2 - 70 | Juliet Duff | Apple vs. Oxygen | Queen Margaret College |
| Highly Commended | 2 - 82 | Jack Eglinton, James Mooney | Peel to Paper | Rāroa Normal Intermediate School |
| Highly Commended | 2 - 87 | Niko Fea-Hurst | Craving Carbon | Rāroa Normal Intermediate School |
| Highly Commended | 2 - 94 | Herriet Mein | Fabulous Fungi | Seatoun School |
| Highly Commended | 2 - 96 | James Connolly | Bot or Not | Seatoun School |
| Highly Commended | 2 - 97 | Lucas Webb | Over the Top | Seatoun School |
| Highly Commended | 3 - 5 | Marcus Young | You're All Heart | Rongotai College |
| Highly Commended | 3 - 26 | Charley Wells | Microplastics on Beaches | Upper Hutt College |
| Highly Commended | 3 - 29 | Kennedy Rushton, Neve Gerraty | AI vs Students - Can teachers tell the difference | Upper Hutt College |
| Highly Commended | 3 - 34 | Zalayed Hassan | The Impact of Aerodynamics on Automobile Performance | Rongotai College |
| Highly Commended | 4 - 3 | Connor Herries, Oli Atkinson-Peat, Joshua Bethell | AquaPod | Rongotai College |
| Antarctic Society, Wellington Branch | 2 - 97 | Lucas Webb | Over the Top | Seatoun School |
| Australasian Corrosion Association | 3 - 24 | Zoe Lincoln, Adrienne Dycoco | Bust the Rust! | St Oran’s College |
| Australasian Corrosion Association | 1 - 30 | Scarlett de Ronde | How does acid affect seashells? | Korokoro School |
| Australasian Corrosion Association | 1 - 38 | Ethan Clendon and Tyler Lucas | What Liquids Dissolve Eggshells the Fastest? | Northland School |
| Australasian Corrosion Association | 1 - 64 | Joel McDowell | Battle of the Batteries | Seatoun School |
| Australasian Corrosion Association | 1 - 89 | Sylvia Palmer | Mould Busters | Wadestown School |
| Balance Agri-nutrients Sustainable Agricultural Award | 2 - 109 | Ella Bond, Noah Robson | Natural V Chemical | St Mark's Church School |
| Balance Agri-nutrients Sustainable Agricultural Award | 2 - 129 | Caleb Buxton | Exhausted | Wadestown School |
| Balance Agri-nutrients Sustainable Agricultural Award | 2 - 142 | Nate Tervoort | Does Human Toil Mess with What's in Our Soil? | Northland School |
| Cancer Society (Wellington Division) | 3 - 17 | Edward Usher | We all scream for sunscreen | Scots College |
| Doreen Gates Memorial Prize | 2 - 141 | Liv Hardgrave | Don’t get chilly | Queen Margaret College |
| Doreen Gates Memorial Prize | 1 - 56 | Anais Mancencal Sellier | Your Tiny Body Guards | Seatoun School |
| Engineering New Zealand | 5 - 2 | Luke Scott-Hill | Unveiling the Mysteries of Space and Time | Tawa College |
| Engineering New Zealand | 5 - 3 | Jesse Rumball Smith | "Driving Nudging Towards Zero: Technology to Reinforce Safe Driving" | Wellington College |
| Engineering New Zealand | 5 - 4 | Charlie Chen | Jet refraction | Wellington High School |
| Engineering New Zealand | 4 - 3 | Connor Herries, Oli Atkinson-Peat, Joshua Bethell | AquaPod | Rongotai College |
| Engineering New Zealand | 4 - 5 | Dion Leslie, Faizaan Saiyad, Liam Hendry | Solar Wear | Rongotai College |
| Engineering New Zealand | 4 - 12 | Kiera Williams, Olivia Lingard | Taking Salt out of Saltwater | Upper Hutt College |
| Engineering New Zealand | 3 - 11 | Jessica Ramsay | Wildcard Wings | Samuel Marsden Collegiate School |
| Engineering New Zealand | 3 - 31 | Isabelle Aduna | Riding the Waves | Wellington Girls College |
| Engineering New Zealand | 3 - 34 | Zalayed Hassan | The Impact of Aerodynamics on Automobile Performance | Rongotai College |
| Engineering New Zealand | 2 - 31 | Jacob Williams | Are solar tracker systems worth it? | Hutt Intermediate School |
| Engineering New Zealand | 2 - 40 | Alex Curwen | Plane Manoeuvrability | Muritai School |
| Engineering New Zealand | 2 - 91 | Zayan Abbasi | A Smarter Future, Now | Rāroa Normal Intermediate School |
| Engineering New Zealand | 1 - 11 | Luis Ehrmann | Walnut Weight Sorting Machine | Evans Bay Intermediate School |
| Engineering New Zealand | 1 - 31 | George Dent | Forces on bridges | Muritai School |
| Engineering New Zealand | 1 - 58 | Curtis Williams | Buzz Off | Seatoun School |
| Engineering New Zealand | 1 - 71 | Sebastian Davy | The science behind the paper plane | St Benedicts |
| Geoscience Society of NZ | 2 - 92 | Eleanor Crampton | Steam Power | Samuel Marsden Collegiate School |
| Geoscience Society of NZ | 1 - 7 | Dylan Rama | Seaweed our Saviour? | Evans Bay Intermediate School |
| Geoscience Society of NZ | 1 - 8 | Ella Macdonald, Lisa Maister & Olive Lee | Does Seaweed reduce Pollution. | Evans Bay Intermediate School |
| Goodnature Ltd | 2 - 16 | Jessie Casey | Paua's as big as your face! But is the Marine Reserve working? | Evans Bay Intermediate School |
| Hugh D Gordon Memorial Prize | 2 - 87 | Niko Fea-Hurst | Craving Carbon | Rāroa Normal Intermediate School |
| Hugh D Gordon Memorial Prize | 1 - 91 | Zara Delahunty | What makes it Grow? | Wadestown School |
| Measurement Standards Laboratory, Callaghan Innovation | 3 - 9 | Elyse Ngan | Beyond the Threads | Samuel Marsden Collegiate School |
| Measurement Standards Laboratory, Callaghan Innovation | 3 - 17 | Edward Usher | We all scream for sunscreen | Scots College |
| Measurement Standards Laboratory, Callaghan Innovation | 1 - 30 | Scarlett de Ronde | How does acid affect seashells? | Korokoro School |
| Measurement Standards Laboratory, Callaghan Innovation | 1 - 93 | Asher Lim | How unblemished is our drinking water? | Whitby Collegiate |
| New Zealand Farm Forestry | 3 - 10 | Hannah Jones and Isabella Gollan | Wood it Matter? | Samuel Marsden Collegiate School |
| NumberWorks'nWords | 2 - 103 | Jack McDougall | Puzzling Probability | St Benedicts |
| NumberWorks'nWords | 2 - 137 | Will Mckee | Is A.I Sexist | Wadestown School |
| NZ Association of Optometrists - Wellington Branch | 2 - 3 | Grace Quinn | Now You See It, Now You Don't! | Clifton Terrace Model School |
| NZ Association of Optometrists - Wellington Branch | 2 - 29 | Frances Mosen, Kahlan Green and Sophia Loughnane | The World Around Us! | Hutt Intermediate School |
| NZ Association of Optometrists - Wellington Branch | 1 - 54 | Lyndey Jiang | Very Eye-Catching! | Rāroa Normal Intermediate School |
| NZ Baking Industry Research Trust Award | 1 - 77 | Vaani Naguleswaran | The Best Cookie | St Mark's Church School |
| NZ Institute of Food Science and Technology | 2 - 12 | Eddie Barnes, Hanna Bungert, Adam Jokuti | Cereal Killers! | Evans Bay Intermediate School |
| Peter Jennings Memorial Prize | 2 - 82 | Jack Eglinton, James Mooney | Peel to Paper | Rāroa Normal Intermediate School |
| Peter Jennings Memorial Prize | 1 - 43 | Monty Orange | Monty’s Mushrooms | Northland School |
| Royal Aeronautical Society Bernard Weinstein Aerospace Prize | 2 - 40 | Alex Curwen | Plane Manoeuvrability | Muritai School |
| Royal Aeronautical Society Bernard Weinstein Aerospace Prize | 2 - 75 | Shivika Raju, Evie Ramanathan | Rotor Race | Queen Margaret College |
| Royal Aeronautical Society Bernard Weinstein Aerospace Prize | 1 - 58 | Curtis Williams | Buzz Off | Seatoun School |
| Society for Māori Astronomy Research and Traditions | 2 - 130 | Elise Hargreaves | Rongoā Rakau vs Pharmaceutical Antacid Remedies | Wadestown School |
| Society for Māori Astronomy Research and Traditions | 2 - 134 | Lucy Gray | Planting by the Nights of Maramataka | Wadestown School |
| Stantec New Zealand | 4 - 8 | Lucas Rongo, Thomas Sadler, Hamish Tukaki-Campbell | Water Hoarders | Rongotai College |
| Stantec New Zealand | 2 - 42 | Elodie Dent | How drinkable is our water? | Muritai School |
| Te Herenga Waka -- Victoria University of Wellington Faculty of Education | 5 - 3 | Jesse Rumball Smith | "Driving Nudging Towards Zero: Technology to Reinforce Safe Driving" | Wellington College |
| Te Herenga Waka -- Victoria University of Wellington Faculty of Education | 3 - 26 | Charley Wells | Microplastics on Beaches | Upper Hutt College |
| Te Herenga Waka -- Victoria University of Wellington Faculty of Education | 3 - 29 | Kennedy Rushton, Neve Gerraty | AI vs Students - Can teachers tell the difference | Upper Hutt College |
| Te Herenga Waka -- Victoria University of Wellington Faculty of Education | 1 - 64 | Joel McDowell | Battle of the Batteries | Seatoun School |
| Te Herenga Waka -- Victoria University of Wellington School of Engineering and Computer Science | 5 - 3 | Jesse Rumball Smith | "Driving Nudging Towards Zero: Technology to Reinforce Safe Driving" | Wellington College |
| Te Herenga Waka -- Victoria University of Wellington School of Engineering and Computer Science | 3 - 29 | Kennedy Rushton, Neve Gerraty | AI vs Students - Can teachers tell the difference | Upper Hutt College |
| Te Herenga Waka -- Victoria University of Wellington School of Engineering and Computer Science | 2 - 40 | Alex Curwen | Plane Manoeuvrability | Muritai School |
| Te Herenga Waka -- Victoria University of Wellington School of Psychology | 2 - 55 | Seren Raybould | The Art of Music | Northland School |
| Te Herenga Waka -- Victoria University of Wellington School of Psychology | 1 - 41 | Harriet Small | You Ain't Seen Muffin Yet! | Northland School |
| Te Kawa a Maui at Te Herenga Waka -- Victoria University of Wellington | 1 - 59 | Delia Davies | Ngake kaikawe Ahi (The Fire Carriers) | Seatoun School |
| The Joint Centre for Disaster Research (Massey University/GNS Science) | 4 - 8 | Lucas Rongo, Thomas Sadler, Hamish Tukaki-Campbell | Water Hoarders | Rongotai College |
| The Joint Centre for Disaster Research (Massey University/GNS Science) | 2 - 90 | Shihui Wang | Watch Your Backyard | Rāroa Normal Intermediate School |
| The Institute for Environmental Science (ESR) | 3 - 22 | Meenakshi Ramaswamy | The Ink Case | St Oran’s College |
| The Institute for Environmental Science (ESR) | 3 - 31 | Isabelle Aduna | Riding the Waves | Wellington Girls College |
| The Institute for Environmental Science (ESR) | 2 - 42 | Elodie Dent | How drinkable is our water? | Muritai School |
| The Institute for Environmental Science (ESR) | 2 - 112 | Maggie Dinniss | It runs in the family or does it? | St Mark's Church School |
| The Institute for Environmental Science (ESR) | 1 - 56 | Anais Mancencal Sellier | Your Tiny Body Guards | Seatoun School |
| The New Zealand Coastal Society | 2 -97 | Lucas Webb | Over the Top | Seatoun School |
| The New Zealand Coastal Society | 3 - 16 | Sophie Rombel | Wave Busters | Samuel Marsden Collegiate School |
| The School of Mathematics and Statistics at Te Herenga Waka -- Victoria University of Wellington | 2 - 53 | Louise Walker | Infrared Investigation | Northland School |
| The School of Mathematics and Statistics at Te Herenga Waka -- Victoria University of Wellington | 2 - 70 | Juliet Duff | Apple vs. Oxygen | Queen Margaret College |
| Wellington Botanical Society | 2 - 94 | Herriet Mein | Fabulous Fungi | Seatoun School |
| Wellington Botanical Society | 2 - 114 | Matthew Dunn, Sian Poiner, Miles Vincent | The battle Below | St Mark's Church School |
| Wellington City Libraries | 2 - 140 | Summer Wingate, Axar Walker | The power of music & memory | Masterton Intermediate School |
| Wellington Medical Research Foundation | 3 - 5 | Marcus Young | You're All Heart | Rongotai College |
| Wellington Medical Research Foundation | 2 - 58 | Zoё Royle | Eat Like an Athl-Eat: Does healthy eating influence athletic ability? | Northland School |
| Wellington Medical Research Foundation | 2 - 116 | Abhitha Balakumar | Lower those levels! | St Oran’s College |
| Wellington Medical Research Foundation | 2 - 133 | Koko Jackson | Heart Hydration | Wadestown School |
| Wellington Medical Research Foundation | 1 - 92 | Aanya Badiyani, Kaavya Badiyani | Vaping - Smoking without Fire | Whitby Collegiate |
| Worley New Zealand | 2 - 31 | Jacob Williams | Are solar tracker systems worth it? | Hutt Intermediate School |
| Worley New Zealand | 2 - 91 | Zayan Abbasi | A Smarter Future, Now | Rāroa Normal Intermediate School |
| Worley New Zealand | 1 - 58 | Curtis Williams | Buzz Off | Seatoun School |
Thank you all for participating in the NIWA Wellington Regional Science & Technology Fair. See you all back next year!
Protection of Copyright, Intellectual Property and Design
Please note that the student’s intellectual property within entries to this fair has been protected by gazetting this exhibition under Section 9(2) of the Patents Act 2013 and Section 10(2) of the Designs Act 1953 by The Commissioner of Patents. https://www.iponz.govt.nz/about-iponz/the-journal/