Later this week, 24th to 30th June to be more precise, the International Festival of Engineering Science and Technology (I-FEST) is taking place in Tunisia. This annual science fair is of particular interest for South Africans, as two local students will be competing.

The two students in question are Kutlwano Tshatiwa, a 17-year-old Matric learner at Gabonewe High School in the North West province and Ethan de Wet, an 18-year-old Matric learner at Curro Durbanville in the Western Cape.

Both students (pictured above) will represent South Africa at the science fair and were chosen as part of the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists.

As for their projects, Tshatiwa is showcasing his understanding of machine learning.

“The young scientist used millions of images to test two methods of model training, i.e. a custom model and a knowledge distillation model. He found that knowledge distillation techniques outperformed the custom model in terms of accuracy,” highlights a press release sent to Hypertext.

De Wet’s project is focused on making natural resources eco-friendly.

“Using 3D printing technology with biodegradable Polylactic acid (PLA), he designed and constructed speaker enclosures that could replace standard wooden ones. This, together with his knowledge of sound engineering, helped him design and 3D print an affordable and efficient speaker enclosure,” notes the press release.

We await to see how both learners perform at I-FEST in the coming days and wish them the best of luck. As does the Eskom Expo, which also urges those interested in STEM to apply for next year’s Young Scientists event, available from Grade 4 to Matric.

“Eskom is proud to be the funder of the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists, a platform which continues to enable learners not only to develop themselves but to also make a positive contribution to the country through scientific knowledge,” added Eskom Development Foundation CEO, Cecil Ramonotsi.

Registration for next year is already open, with the uploading of project done here.