On The Up: Kerikeri student wins top prize at Far North Science Fair

Year 10 student Sophia Ibbotson won the top award for her solar project.

The Far North Science Fair has wrapped up its biggest year yet, with record entries from 11 schools and homeschool students. Among the standout projects was that of Year 10 Kerikeri High student Sophia Ibbotson, who claimed the top award.

The regional science fair has been inspiring the students of the Far North for the past 23 years.

This year there was a record number of schools entered from 11 schools plus a significant contribution from homeschool students. A total of 321 students entered, the highest number yet.

There were a total of 181 projects covering a range of topics and disciplines and 79 projects were awarded prizes, with some winning several.

Over $13,000 in prizemoney was awarded to Northland students at prizegiving. This included special awards, such as giving students the opportunity to go on a Fullers cruise around the Hole in the Rock and three Department of Conservation Prizes of a stay in a DoC hut.

Head of science at Kerikeri High, Jackie McKechnie, said Sophia’s success, and the success of previous students, highlights that the level of talent coming out of Kerikeri High is impressive and substantial.

Feedback from winners of previous years indicate the Science Fair encourages the development of many skills that will be used in the future.

“Students will learn that determination and repeated effort are required in order to get the correct result. They also learn how to follow a defined process; this is an important skill in any industry STEM or not,” McKechnie said.

“Having their hard work recognised by winning a category at Science Fair is sometimes all it takes to inspire a love of all facets of science and a desire to one day study and work in a science-related field.”

Sophia’s projects sought to improve solar technology. Her research developed a solar-panel cooling system that increased solar-panel power output in hot conditions and resulted in a net power increase.

McKechnie said it was a truly future-focused project and a continuation of her 2024 project.

“She looked at a real-life problem and tried to solve it. She followed the complete process from start to finish.”

It was the first time a Year 10 student had claimed the overall best research prize.

“Obviously to take the top as a Year 10 student is a significant achievement. This has never happened before. Though this is unprecedented, there have been students of similar age who have gone on to compete at a national level, but this was a long time ago.”

Sophia said the project was time-sonsuming but she was happy with the final result.

“It did take me a while, but it felt really good to get up there and win the overall prize.”

She said she loves science, because she loves to explore new ideas that can be applied practically and improve everyday problems.

“I think I will definitely carry on in future, I would love to pursue a path into medicine.”

She already has plans of entering next year and continuing with her research into improving the efficiency of solar panels.

“There are so many directions this project can take,” she said.