Young Rotorua scientist Alex Malcolm explores world of opportunities at Scion

Scion's geospatial technicians David Cajes and Honey Estarija show Alex Malcolm how to program his own UAV flight plan, testing it out on the oval in front of Te Whare Nui o Tuteata. Photo/Supplied

Mokoia Intermediate pupil Alex Malcolm swapped the classroom for labs at Scion last week, discovering how widespread career opportunities are for emerging scientists.

The Day with a Scientist programme was arranged after Alex won Scion's Ngā Huarahi ki Te Ao Award at the inaugural Te Tūkohu Ngāwhā Science and Design Fair in July.

Alex took out first place in the Sustainability category, and also won the Te Arawa Lakes Trust's Ngā Karu Atua Supreme Award.

His scientific Catfish for the Gram project explored the use of artificial intelligence and traps to identify and photograph catfish underwater to monitor population numbers.

He says, "My experience was really cool, and I got to see the different kinds of science at Scion. The world of science is limitless here.

"The highlight of my day was scanning the dog skull with the 3D scanner and looking at the insect collection."

Among the day's activities, Scion's geospatial technicians David Cajes and Honey Estarija treated Alex to a tour of the UAV lab and showed him how to programme his own UAV flight plan, later testing it out on the oval in front of Te Whare Nui o Tuteata.

Scientist John Lee introduced Alex to the DiscBot, Scion's wood quality detective – technology that was developed and built in-house to scan wood and help scientists assess a range of wood properties affecting the quality of sawn timber and other end products.

In the 3D printing lab, Alex printed his own stag beetle with engineer Rob Whitton, and got the chance to view Scion's insect collection – among the largest in New Zealand.

It was also the perfect opportunity to show Scion entomologist Carl Wardhaugh his own insect collection and share his award-winning science project with Scion staff.

In sponsoring the science fair award, Scion is proud to support building capacity and capability through its Te Ao Māori Portfolio pathway.