ASSOCIATION
ARTICLES NEWS
Editor's Letter
By George Pinniger
of trials she carried out to produce a biodegradable plastic from
prawn shells and maize flour! Of course, she had brought a
sample of it, a transparent and thin material which breaks down
within a year. However, the experimentation required, and the
changes required to perfect its properties were staggering! She
won a scholarship to an American University, but Mr Dib – who
was even more impressed by this 15-year-old student than we
more experienced scientists – encouraged her to stay in Australia
to pursue her amazing chemistry goals, and hopefully to become
a NSW science teacher to inspire students as she had inspired
him – and us. Not only has Angelina invented this novel plastic,
she is so erudite and confident it was amazing!
First of all, an apology: in the previous edition of SEN (June)
an interesting article was republished, 'High School Students
helping Primary Students with Science', written by Dr Simon
Crook. This event was organised by Dr Crook under the auspices
of the Alliance of Girls’ Schools Australasia (AGSA). I gave a
commitment to record AGSA’s agreement for it to be included in
SEN, but failed to do so. For this I am highly embarrassed, and
most sincerely apologise to AGSA and to Dr Crook.
What an amazingly successful year for our students – and it’s
only August!
The extraordinary results of nine students representing Australia
at the ISEF deservedly attracted the attention of politicians,
including the Prime Minister whose message to STANSW
through the Young Scientist Coordinator, Ms Anjali Rao, is
included elsewhere in this issue. It also impressed NSW
Opposition Spokesperson for Education, Mr Dib, who offered to
visit STANSW to discuss various topics, including the Flexible
Mentors Schem