The sky is the limit for 17-year-old Wandile Khumalo of Dundee High School, who scooped silver at the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists and was whisked away to the Big Apple to show off his idea.
The Eskom Expo for Young Scientists is science fair during which students are given a chance to show others their projects and scientific investigations.
Wandile, a keen science fan, joined the Expo at the tender age of 13 in 2010, and has since taken the world of science by storm.
In 2011 Wandile invented his first project – a ‘trip switch’ for plug outlets. The project wowed the judges and won him his first bronze medal. Armed with his medal and a new idea, Wandile pressed ahead and decided this was just the beginning of his science career.
After months of hard work Wandile developed a new idea: a unique safety device for electrical stoves.
“The stove is able to detect when oil has reached boiling point and is seconds away from becoming a fire,” he explained. He added that this inexpensive device ‘prevents fires by cutting off electricity to the stove and alerting the user’.
This ingenious idea may have helped eliminate the recent surge of shack fires in Endumeni in recent weeks.
Wowed the judges
Wandile’s project once again wowed the judges, and he was chosen to represent Eskom at international level during the Genius Olympiad. This news rendered Wandile speechless, also spurring him on.
Wandile told the Courier that extensive work was put into perfecting his stove ‘while still performing well at school’. After months of planning, Wandile boarded the flight to New York on June 15.
While there he toured New York and Washington DC, and competed in the science competition held at the Oswego State University of New York. Wandile got a bird’s eye view of the White House, and visited the Holocaust Museum and Smithsonian Space Museum in Washington. He also visited China Town and Little Italy in New York – here he drank coconut water (a drink that made his stomach ‘squeal with disgust’) and ate deep-dish pizza. Wandile described his experience as ‘unbelievable’.
“This was not how I imagined it – it was far better!” Wandile hopes to one day study Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in New York, and hopes to continue inventing invaluable innovations. Wandile concluded with a message: “What is science? Not complex things you read in books but the basis of everyday life, from eating to sleeping. People should see the fun in science and join the Expo.”
Wandile extended his heartiest gratitude to Mr Nortjie, Mrs Hashcke, Principal Hashcke, the Dundee Baptist Church, his mother, and the following business representatives: Dr S Dlamini, Mr Baker and Mr Laloo, who all assisted with his ‘trip of a lifetime’
