the-BA : ISEF 2005 (2)

Gurjit Singh Sidhu, 17, from Dundee has scooped a $1,000 (£543) prize at an international science fair in Phoenix, Arizona with his project testing measuring equipment for radiotherapy. Gurjit was award one of the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance/ Lemelson Foundation Prizes for creativity, technological innovation and commercial promise at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair 2005 (ISEF). The fair sees over 1,400 students from over 40 countries compete for prizes.

‘I’m thrilled to have won an international award for my project,’ says Gurjit, a student at St John's High School, Dundee. ‘The experience at ISEF was great – making friends from around the world and seeing the sights of Arizona, but most of all presenting my project to both judges and the public. The judges seemed impressed at my project and liked the idea that I had carried out a project which is very practical in everyday life. Of course, explaining my project to the public was even more daunting than talking to the judges. In the space of a couple of hours I had to talk to both adults and seven year old children!’

Gurjit carried out his original project in the Radiotherapy Department at Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee. He was studying the use of diodes placed at the surface of the skin above a tumour to calculate the dose that the cancer cells receive during radiotherapy. Currently, there is no way of verifying the dose that they receive other than relying on the x-ray machine.

Inviting Gurjit to test the diodes as a research project, the Head of the Radiotherapy Dept at Ninewells, John Parry, told him that he would be the first person in Ninewells to be doing this research since the first abortive attempts fifteen years ago.

Read Gurjit's web diary from ISEF here.

‘Congratulations to Gurjit on his success at ISEF,’ says Sir Roland Jackson, Chief Executive of the BA. ‘Gurjit won his trip to ISEF at the BA CREST Science Fair back in February by greatly impressing the judges with his exceptional scientific skills and ability to explain clearly the science behind his project, and his friendly personality. He has proved himself to be not only the perfect role model for young scientists everywhere, but an exemplary ambassador for UK science.’

The BA CREST Science Fair was held at the Royal Society, London, on 28 February, and showcased science and technology projects from students aged 11-18 across the UK.

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