By KRISTIN MACFARLANE in Rotorua
He's been recognised locally for his inventions and now Reporoa's Jason Groot is looking to gain higher honours.
The Year 10 Reporoa College student scooped four awards at the Bay of Plenty Science and Technology Fair, including the Hayes International Engineering Excellence trophy
and a first in the Junior Secondary Technology category, as well as taking the Engineers New Zealand and AgResearch awards.
The 14-year-old's entry focused on a four-wheeler load lifter he had made to use on his family farm at Reporoa.
The lifter attaches to the back of a four-wheeler and can lift up to 60kg.
The idea for the contraption came about when one of the family's farm animals had died.
"One day Mum sent me out to get a dead calf but I couldn't lift it on the top of the four-wheeler," Jason said.
He made the lifter over several days and now uses it regularly on the farm.
Jason said the recognition he gained through the came as a surprise, especially with some of the other bright ideas on display.
"I had my other friends there, I thought they would've done well and they did, but I didn't expect this."
Jason said the Bay-wide science and technology competition was of great benefit to those who entered, encouraging students to come up with ideas.
"It's really fun and a good experience."
Jason is now looking to take his gadget to next year's Fieldays and would love to invent more things focusing on farming.
"I'll see if there's an interest in it and then I'll go from there," he said of his invention.
The overall winners of this year's NIWA Bay of Plenty Science and Technology Fair, which was held at the Rotorua Convention Centre, was Year 13 Katikati College student Nathalie Saurat, who beat 159 other entries from Tauranga, Rotorua, Taupo and Te Puke.
Her entry, which studied the niche of cockles and wedge shells, also came first in the senior science category, the New Zealand Statistics category and took the Altrusa Cup for Women in Science. She will go on to compete at the national competition, Realise the Dream, which has prizes including a week at Otago University studying science and scholarships worth up to $5000.
