School kids invent the future

08 December 2003

A Nepalese wind turbine took out the top award in UNSW's National Sustainable Living Competition. Channel V's Mike Kerry and Jabba presented the award to its creator, Year 12 Sydney student Michelle Quachman.

The competition, run by the faculty of the built environment, is the largest of its kind in Australia. Now in its fourth year, it encourages high school students to come up with inventive solutions to support ecological sustainability.

More than 300 students attended the awards, held in the Science Theatre on Friday (December 5).

Michelle, from MLC at Burwood, created a full-scale prototype of an energy system suitable for a Nepalese village. The turbine uses existing technology while drawing design inspiration from traditional prayer wheels.

Michelle was inspired to create the wind turbine after a three-week trip to Nepal. "Nepal is a breathtaking country but I witnessed some of the damage tourism had caused the area, like littering and landslides caused by de-forestation. I wanted to give something back so I came up with the idea to create an energy system that was both environmentally friendly and culturally sensitive," she said.

Sharing second place were Helen MacCarthy, also from MLC Burwood, and Vaughan Watson from St George Christian School, Hurstville. Helen's entry was a sustainable packaging project, inspired by her experiences working in a local supermarket, while Vaughan created a fully operational solar-powered lawn mower.

Project coordinator Vicki Bourbous described the event as "an exciting day that rewarded and celebrated the innovative and inspiring contributions young people are making towards a sustainable future."

The competition has nine award categories including awards for best environmental management plan, community outreach, innovation, design and research and investigation.