vrijdag 1 juli 2011

donderdag 30 juni 2011

The Dutch prize winners of INESPO 2011!

Dutch winners

Award School City Project title
1 Calvijn College Goes Plastic soup
2 Drachtster Lyceum Drachten Wind energy
3 Cosmicus Montessori Lyceum Amsterdam Sustainable Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting from Kinetic Energy
4.1 Assink Lyceum Neede Energy Neutral School
4.2 Gerrit van der Veen College Amsterdam Cheap seawater purification system
4.3 Drachtster Lyceum Drachten MRS Mobile Reload Station








* First prize: Project group receives a trip to Brazil to represent the Netherlands at the MOSTRATEC Olympiad.
**Second prize: Project group receives a trip to the United States of America to represent the Netherlands at the ISWEEEP Olympiad.
*** Third prize: Project group receives a trip to Slovakia to represent the Netherlands at the ESI 2011 Olympiad or another European olympiad. 




The fourth awards are encouragement prizes.
















































International gold award winners

Award Country Project title
1.G Kosovo Cleaning of acidic waste water with human hair
1.C Cambodia Arsenic Removal
1.S Brazil Manufacturing an ion exchange resin using expanded polystyrene and the analysis of its retention of ionic heavy metals
1.I Macedonia Revolutionary New Nitrogen Enriched High Quality Bioethanol Fuel from Cellulosic Agricultural Residues 
1.P Myanmar Myanmar style Biodiesel from Jatropha curcas

International silver award winners

Award Country Project title
2.G Malaysia Once Thrown, Now a Throne
2.C Romania Erosion of the Beaches of the Romanian Sea Coast
2.S Indonesia New Planting Method Using Local Microorganism
2.I Malaysia Discovery of New Material Characterization as a New Coal Energy
2.P Afghanistan The effects of the mobile phones on learning functions

Explanation of international categories

G general
C creativity
S scientific thinking
I insight
P presentation skills

International bronze award winners

Award Country Project title
3.G Ghana Save water save life
3.C Myanmar Antimicrobial and mosquito repellent property of thanaka (Hesperethusa crenulata) with the different solvent extracts
3.S Argentina Cyano out
3.I Indonesia Production of activated carbon from durian peel waste as purification of water
3.P Turkey The Effects of Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) on the Seed Germination, Root Growth and Root Tip Cell Mitotic Divisions of Lentil (Lens culinaris) using a Nargileh Model

International encouragement award winners

Award Country Project title
4.1 Moldova The cleaning of water with the help of algae cladophora glomerata kutzing  and chaetomorpha linum  kutzing
4.2 Philippines Low Cost Non Structured Fe B Catalyst for the Production of Hydrogen from Sodium Borohydride for Fuel Cells
4.3 South Africa Producing Biofuel By Utilizing Cellulose Of Waste Materials
4.4 Thailand Change the World in 72hours! Lipids are not dangerous anymore with the help of bacteria
4.5 Pakistan Isolation of resistant fungal strains from tannery effluents and their role in heavy metal removal from tannery effluents
4.6 Turkey Inhibition effect of the catalyst added into acids used for cleaning petroleum oil pipe-lines
4.7 Ukraine DNA Insecticides vs DNA Stimulators: Every Drug is a Poison; Every Poison, a Drug
4.8 Mexico Socio environmental catastrophe  El Ahogado
4.9 Austria Amylase 2.0 Protein Upgrade via Synthetic Biology
4.10 Chili Vegetal Revigorisation

Public award INESPO

During the exhibition days the visitors were stimulated to vote for the project they thought was the best.

The international public award goes to the project 'Amylase 2.0 Protein Upgrade via Synthetic Biology' from Austria.

The Dutch project that has won this award is 'Energy neutral school' from the Assink Lyceum in Neede.

Images of exhibition

Here are some images of the exhibition on Monday and Tuesday.





























The award ceremony will start within one hour

After a morning of excursions for the international participants, we are now waiting on the announcement of the award winners. The ceremony will start within one hour. And before 6.00 pm we will know who the winners are. I am very curious.

If you want to join the award ceremony, please hurry to the Marinus Ruppert building of Utrecht University, Leuvenlaan 21. Everyone is welcome to experience this beautiful ceremony.

Program:


14:00 – 15:00 Walk in

15.00 – 15.05 Welcome by Ankie Verlaan
15.05 – 15.15 Movie
15.15 – 15.30 Act by participants
15.35 – 15.40 Speech by Cosmicus Foundation
                                              
15.45 – 16.00 Speech by the municipality of Utrecht  - Awards 4th prize winners INT & NAT

16.00 – 16.15 Speech by Yvonne van Rooy (Board of Executives Utrecht University) - Awards public prize INT & NAT

16.15 – 16.25 Act by participants

16.30 – 16.45 Speech by Jan Mulder, EU - Awards 3rd prize winners INT
16.45 – 17.00 Speech by Herman Wijfels, economist - Awards 3rd prize winners NAT

17.00 – 17.10 Act by participants

17.15 – 17.30 Awards 2nd prize winners INT
17.30 – 17.45 Awards 2nd prize winners NAT

17.45 – 17.55 Act by participants

18.00 – 18.10 Awards 1st prize winners INT
18.10 – 18.15 Awards 1st prize winners NAT

18.15 – 18.30 Closing act

woensdag 29 juni 2011

Today: social and cultural activities

Yesterday the exhibition of the projects has ended. About 6.00 pm the participants left Utrecht University. It felt quiet after there leaves. But, INESPO has not ended yet.
Today the international participants have a busy program. Some of them will vistit their embassy at The Hague. Others will visit the Parliament. Another group will test their sportive skills at the Uithof at The Hague by skiing. And the last group will visit Science Center NEMO at Amsterdam. Besides these visits, they will also visit the main spots of the mentioned cities.
I am curious what they will think of it. I hope to be able to tell you later.

Interview with two jury members

CosmiTV also interviewed two jury members: Sjoerd Keijser and Martha Montero-Sieburth. See the result here..

Opening speech of Jos Engelen, NWO (Dutch Scientific Organization)

Opening speech of Sjoerd Slagter, VO-raad (Secondary Education Council)

Opening speech of Mirjam de Rijk, deputy major Utrecht

dinsdag 28 juni 2011

Interviews with students from Vietnam, Turkmenistan, Malaysia, Bulgaria and Myanmar

Interview with students from Vietnam.

Interview with a student from Turkmenistan.

Interview with students from Malaysia

Interview with students from Bulgaria

Interview with students from Myanmar

Movie interview Jos Engelen, chairman NWO

Jos Engelen gave a speech at the opening ceremony of INESPO 2011. CosmiTV interviewed him.

Movie interview with Jeffrey Newman, Earth Charter UK

Jeffrey Newman, of Earth Charter UK, was also present at INESPO.

Movie interview with Sjoerd Slagter, chairman VO-raad

CosmiTV also interviewed Sjoerd Slagter, chairman of the VO-raad, the Dutch Secondary Education Council.

Interview with Awraham Soetendorp

A movie of an interview with Awraham Soetendorp of Earth Charter at the INESPO event. He was one of the speakers at the opening ceremony of INESPO 2011.

Movies opening ceremony INESPO now on YouTube

The movies of the opening speeches are now on YouTube.
I will also show them on this blog.

The second exhibition day has started

Just half an hour ago the second day of the exhibition of INESPO has started. All 200 participants are ready to present their projects again to the jury, the other participants and other interested people. I hope everyone had a good night at the hotel and gained new energy for today's exhibition. 

Yesterday I already saw a lot of interesting projects. Today I want to see the others. I'm curious what kind of projects they have. So I leave my computer and go downstairs to see the projects. This afternoon I hope to tell you more about some projects.

Here are just a few images of yesterday's exhibition.





maandag 27 juni 2011

Many interesting projects at INESPO 2011

A few hours ago the exhibition of the projects has started. About 100 teams of students are presenting their projects to each other, the jury and other interested people.
I just have had a walk through the exhibition and I saw many interesting projects. I talked with two girls from Moldova about their project. It is called: the cleaning of water with the help of algae cladophora glomerata kutzing and chaetomorpha linum kutzing. For me, with my little knowledge of these subjects, it first sounded very complex, but in the end I think it was a very simple, but innovative way to clean filthy water. And there was no waste. At the end the used algae was pressed and could be used as paper. Mmm.. Innovative and environmental friendly.

I also talked with a boy from Vietnam, with Tu le Ngoc. His project was titled: Preparation of activated carbon from scrapcoir in Vietnam by chemical activation method for pollutants in water. He told me that carbon filters the water very good, but because the rescources of carbon are decreasing, there has to be found a new solution. His solution: use the fibers of the coconut. Vietnam has a very long coastal line with a lot of coconut trees, so there are resources enought. I am curious if it will become the new method for water filtering.

If I had to mention al interesting projects, it would be a list of 100 projects, because they are all interesting. The students are so motivated and are so enthusiastic about their projects. That's very nice to see.
 I hope to tell you more about the projects soon. I'll keep you posted.

INESPO2011 has started







This morning, between 11.00 and 12.30 INESPO 2011 has started. Many Dutch prominents were present to welcome the participants and their supervisors. Antoine Heideveld, Agentschap Nl (part of the Dutch ministry of Economics) chaired the ceremony.
Deputy major of Utrecht, Mirjam de Rijk, said that the municipality of Utrecht was very proud to host such a great event. She wished everyone a educational and inspiring experience.
After her, Jos Engelen, chairman NWO (Dutch Organization for Scientic Research), climbed the stairs and told the students that there is a great need of new scientific researchers. Because of the global developments, there are new challenges we have to face. We can only deal with these challenges, by conducting new research. Also Sjoerd Slagter, chairman VO-raad (Secondary Eduction Council), pointed to this need. He thinks being connected is of great value to face these challenges. Problems are not local anymore, but global. Therefore an inclusive approach is neccesary.
After his speech there was a short act of the Mexican delegation. The performed a traditional dance.
The last speech has been given by rabbi Awraham Soetendorp. His speech was very inspiring. He said: "We are here as co-workers. We are certainly not alone in our wish for a better world. But we need synergy, we need to bring all these different powers together. It is such a richness to be together with all these people from so many countries."
After his speech, Rob van Hattum, chairman of the jury, introduced the jury memeber who will judge each project twice and Ibrahim Elmaagac, project coördinator of INESPO, welcomed everybody on behalf of the Cosmicus Foundation.
At the end of the ceremony, one student from each country came forward to welcome everybody in their own language. After that, the speakers, took a pair of scissors and cutted the baloon string. That was the signal for the offcial opening.

INESPO 2011 ready for take off

Good morning to you all!
Yesterday most of the participants for INESPO 2011 arrived at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. Tonight they stayed at a hotel in Utrecht and at this very moment they are travelling to Utrecht University to present their environmental projects. They will arrive within 15 minutes and we are very looking forward to meet them.This afternoon we hope we can tell you about the projects and the official opening of the olympiad.

We'll keep you posted!

vrijdag 24 juni 2011

Preparations 3rd INESPO2011 at full speed

Today is the day of setting up the expo. We are at Utrecht University at the moment, setting up the stands, tables, poster boards, etc. It is quite a job, but we are enjoying it, knowing that all the hardworking students will arrive soon.
Some of them already arrived. The participants from Kyrgyzstan were the first to check in at the hotel. This evening and tomorrow some others will follow. But on Sunday most of them will arrive.
We hope they will all have a good journey, so that they are ready to do their uttermost on Monday when the exhibition of the projects will start. We are very curious to see what their projects look like. If you too are curious, please join us here at the Marinus Ruppert building of Utrecht University on next Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. For more info: www.inespo.org.

donderdag 23 juni 2011

INESPO2011 starts within 3 days!

Dear all,

INESPO 2011, the International Environmental and Scientific Project Olympiad, will start within 3 days. On Sunday, June 26, 150 persons from 40 countries will arrive at Schiphol Airport and check in at the hotel in Utrecht. We are very looking forward to meet them. On Monday about 100 Dutch students will join these international students to show the judges, the press and all the other interested people which innovative and creative solutions for environmental problems they have came up with.

At this blog we will give everyone updated information about what's happening at INESPO 2011. If interested, please join us there.

Location: Marinus Ruppertgebouw of Utrecht University, Leuvenlaan 21, Utrecht.