Cape Town - Getting recognition for an award in the science and engineering category is an incredible achievement, and Dashayin Gilbert’s performance at the Regeneron International and Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Atlanta, US, deserves celebration.
Gilbert, a 16-year-old Grade 11 student at Curro Durbanville, was placed third in the physics and astronomy category. He gained entry to the fair by winning an award at the 2021 Eskom Expo for Young Scientists.
The fair is the world’s largest pre-college science competition that celebrates groundbreaking scientific excellence in aspiring scientists who are under the age of 18.
Gilbert won R16 000 for his research project titled “Formula One Aerodynamics”.
Gilbert said he combined his love for Formula One with his aptitude for problem-solving to come up with the idea of investigating the aerodynamics of a Formula One car.
He made significant findings that help to understand the factors that contribute to improving the car.
“Eskom Expo served as a way for me to develop my knowledge about Formula One aerodynamics and learn as much as I could. My project is based on research and comparative analysis of fluid dynamics.
“The main idea of my project is about financial efficiency as the development of aerodynamics in all regions of science is extremely expensive since either wind tunnel testing or computational fluid dynamics programmes are used,” said Gilbert.
Nthato Minyku from the Eskom Group said they were proud of all the young scientists who represented South Africa and he extended congratulations to Dayashin for his achievement.
“Congratulations to Dashayin Gilbert, who performed exceptionally well in the unfamiliar subject of aerodynamics and brought home this valuable award,” he said.
The registration for the 2022 Eskom Expo is currently open to all learners in Grades 4-12. Learners in TVET colleges can also apply with their own research projects. Project can be registered at the following link http://bit.ly/3dVnTGH.