CSIRO CREST Awards

Two students have submitted their CREST reports from a project undertaken in 2018 and have been awarded Silver Level CREST Awards. Congratulations to the following students:

Faduma Mohamed and Ifra Rizwan in Year 9, for their project titled: “What is the best eco-friendly landscape topping that reduces moisture loss of soil during repeated droughts?”

They are currently planning their Gold Level CREST project for 2019. Well done girls!

Science Teachers Association of Victoria (STAV) Science Talent Search Competition

A huge thanks to the CREST Elective girls who have polished their CREST project reports and submitted them to the annual STAV Science Talent Search Competition.

We have sent 12 project reports created by 24 Eastmeadows Campus students in the Junior, Intermediate and Open Experimental Research Divisions, and results will be received in September 2019. Good Luck girls!

GENIUS Olympiad 2019

“Let’s build a better future together"

GENIUS Olympiad is an international high school project competition about environmental issues. It was founded and organised by the Terra Science and Education and hosted by the State University of New York at Oswego. GENIUS Olympiad hosts projects in five general disciplines with an environmental focus.

Seven Year 9 and 10 Sirius College Eastmeadows Campus students, completed science projects in 2018 in the Sirius College CSIRO "CREST" elective.

The teams entered their four projects into the Genius Olympiad 2019 competition which hosted around 1400 students and supervisors this year from 78 countries, where a total of 420 projects were selected out of 842 submissions internationally (50% acceptance rate) for the science category.

These seven students were invited to attend as finalists in June this year.

The five-day program, which included a trip to Niagara Falls, International Fair, Planetarium visit and Galleria shopping evening, involved students presenting their science projects on posters to university judges on a gruelling judging day. They were evaluated for their originality, innovation, quality of science and presentation skills.

I am absolutely delighted to announce that ALL of our Sirius College students were awarded with Bronze and Silver medals!

The following prizes were awarded:

• Which type of oil preserves bread the longest and extends its shelf-life?” by Zainab Al-Fadh and Nida Ahsan – Silver medal Genius Olympiad Awards
• “The effect of storage time on protein contents of Australian chicken eggs” by Sara Saleh - Bronze medal Genius Olympiad Award
• “Maximising the protein content in yogurt using different milk samples” by Tasnim Thamer and Sarah Alzahabi - Bronze medal Genius Olympiad Awards
• “Sweet torture - modifying the parameters for tempering chocolate” by Fizzah Khalid, Ayah Awad - Bronze medal Genius Olympiad Awards. I would like to thank Inci Baba for being the third team member and staying in Australia to allow Fizzah and Ayah to represent this team as a cap of two students is allowed per team.

Each medal-winning student has been given priority consideration for scholarships, including a four-year Destination Oswego Scholarship worth USD $36,000 to study at The State University of New York.

I cannot overstate how proud I am of these young ladies. The awards they received surpassed all expectations, and reflect the long hours and commitment they put into preparing for this Olympiad. Their teamwork, Aussie charm (and Caramello Koalas) that they showcased to America was a joy to behold.

Congratulations girls – you did it!!

A huge thank you to Mr Ihan Eroglu for his support in making the trip a reality, Mrs Gordana Janev and Mrs Reem Alzahabi for their outstanding chaperoning skills and looking after the students on a very long and busy trip, Mrs Hisu Lee for her talented poster-design and artistic advice, Miss Sumaia El-Sayed for preparing the girls for judging, and the girls’ parents who helped them prepare for this amazing experience.

Regards,