N.Y.S.F. EXPERIENCE by Nikita Page
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Nikita Page grew up in Gawler and is a Year 12 student at Wilderness School studying Physics, English and Research Project with Maths 1 and 2 being her favourites.
Nikita Page
Her talk centred on her experience at the National Youth Science Forum which she attended during the last summer holidays on a sponsorship arranged through the Gawler Rotary Club.
The National Youth Science Forum, or NYSF, is a program available for students going into Year 12 with an interest in STEM and careers in science-related fields. The program is normally held at the Australian National University in Canberra, and generally runs for 10 days involving both online and in-person experiences.
However, this year, due to Covid-19, the NYSF ran for three weeks from the 5th to 22nd January and was restricted to South Australia based at Adelaide University and included visits to Flinders University and the Defence Science Technology Institute at Edinburgh.
Day 1 began with an opening ceremony, where NYSF CEO Dr Melanie Bagg, spoke along with notable people including Professor Tanya Munro, Australia’s Chief Defence Scientist, and Rod Drury, VP of Lockheed Martin International. A lecture was by Nobel laureate Professor Barry Marshall who won a Nobel prize in 2005 for research on the Helicobacter pylori bacteria and who is most famous for drinking the bacteria to prove that his theory about it causing stomach ulcers was correct. Finally dividing into groups with Nikita’s group being the “Einstein” group made up of people interested in physics, outer space, and science fiction.
Day 2 had NYSF CEO Melanie Bagg looking at the importance of thinking critically in the workplace, at school, and as a scientist. Then two experiments, the first of which was DNA extraction from fruit and the second the creation of renewable plastic from potatoes.
Day 3 was two specialist lectures. One on Carbon Capturing in Mining. The second on the use of Drones in the Defence Force.
Day 4 explored media and science vocations, some previously unknown to Nikita.
Days 5 & 6 were two careers’ days. First day was hearing from those in aeronautical and aerospace engineering, CSIRO, and pharmacology, and the second day about sleep apnoea, and physics applications from the Defence Science and Technology Group.
Day 7 was totally at Adelaide University medical school seeing how multiple fields of engineering and medicine science can come together. Then into an IVF lab which was examining the first stages of cell development for mice eggs.
Day 8 spent half the day in Adelaide Uni laboratory engineering food for consumption in space, and the other half at DSTI at Edinburgh where computer science technology is developed.
Day 9 was at Flinders University learning about facets of electronic warfare.
Days 10 & 11 were more specialist lectures and to choose from a variety of talks.
Day 12 was a visit to SA space industry centre where satellite development.is progressing.
Days 13 & 14 were given over to future goal setting during Year 12, developing interview techniques, and meeting with 1st & 2nd Year University students.
Finally, Nikita described what she had gained most from the forum. Overall, the program was an amazing, inspiring, and highly enjoyable experience. it was highly valuable in meeting passionate and engaging presenters and getting fresh ideas about careers in science.
