[Music]
[Applause]
so today I want to start by going back
to be specific about 2,000 years now I
want you to picture ancient Rome
what image has come to your mind the
gladiators Colosseum Julius Caesar or
maybe armies wearing scale mail perhaps
a bit like this now I want to change
your focus to a modern-day oncology unit
specifically women who are undergoing
radiotherapy breast cancer treatment can
you see a connection now there’s nothing
obvious I can grant you that but today I
would like to talk to you about two of
my major science projects both of which
were inspired by the past scale mail and
ancient Egyptian water clocks to help
solve two very different problems I’m 16
years old and I love science and
engineering in case you hadn’t guessed
from the teacher as a scientist I am
along with so many others constantly
thinking about where we’ll be in five
years in ten years even in 50 years time
it’s a question which constantly drives
our curiosity and our imagination to
help solve global problems with simple
answers whether this be clean energy or
health there are major concerns facing
our planet today now not only is our
generation going to inherit these
problems but we’re also creating new
ones for ourselves but I believe that
when it comes to coming up with
solutions we can look to the past we can
use the past to change the future taking
things that have been used before and
repurposing them in a different way now
if you’ve ever gone to the dentist for
an x-ray you’ll be familiar with this
scene the dentist comes into the room
they place a lead apron over the top of
you whilst they quickly jump out and you
get your x-ray well this is a similar
type shield that might be used if you’re
undergoing
radio therapy breast cancer treatment
but it isn’t failsafe the LED that they
use is toxic it costs a lot of money and
it costs a lot of time for the Centers
which is why they tend to opt out of
this decision however this means that
the women who are undergoing this
treatment will receive harmful unwanted
radiation to their contralateral breast
which is just a fancy word for the
breast that’s not being treated and this
is an unwanted byproduct of being free
of cancer studies have shown that one in
14 women who undergo this treatment will
develop a second primary cancer in this
breast later in their lifetime which is
where my idea for scale mail comes in
something which I’ve learnt about in
movies and museums could this ancient
shielding technique be more effective
than what we’re using today
now some early forms of scale mail were
documented by the Chinese who used them
to protect their horses during battle a
Japanese samurai used to beat individual
leaves replicating that of fish scales
was also found in Roman and Persian
armies and is also found on this very
cute animal called the Pangolin which is
very effective for protection so this is
my device called the smart armor which
stands for scale male armor for
radiation therapy so I made this by
meticulously and painfully interweaving
these individual scales together using
pliers and jump rings for what felt like
an eternity so to test my device I used
what would we would consider typical
breast cancer treatment and this was
found that I could reduce doses to the
contralateral breast by up to 80%
reducing the radiation levels to this
breast by 80% now what makes this device
difference which you may have already
noticed is not only the use of scale
mail but it’s also the use of copper now
I found that copper was 20% more
effective at the skin level than LED
something that contradicts global
standards
should be using lead now I’ve performed
all of my testing at the Chris O’Brien
Life house and I’m overwhelmed and
absolutely ecstatic at the response it
has approval from the Therapeutic Goods
Administration of Australia which means
that it’s ready for clinical use I have
a provisional patent on it so don’t go
thinking you can steal it and my paper
is soon to be published in the Journal
of applied Medical Physics which is
based in North America now they’re still
of course a lot of work to be done but
through experimentation through
curiosity and a bit of a mad imagination
this just shows how an ancient
technology can be refocused for future
scientific breakthrough
the ancient curving conforming nature of
this material made it ideal for its new
purpose potentially saving lives now I’d
like to change your focus a bit to a
problem where I’ve also focused my
thinking solar panels which are
expensive to buy difficult to install
and thus become almost impractical when
helping to solve the developing world’s
great energy crisis many millions of
dollars and thousands of researchers
across the world are looking to improve
solar panels efficiency by one or two
percent I discovered that I could
improve a solar panel spout put by up to
72% through the combination of ancient
technology and the modern solar panels
now on a different note for a second 71%
of our world is covered in water
ninety six point five percent of this is
found in the oceans now of all of this
water that covers our planet only 1% is
able to be drunk at only 1% holds the
basic properties needed to make it
consumable now I want you guys to
remember this because this becomes
important a little bit later but for
centuries humans have used water to
scientifically aid our existence in 1500
BC the ancient Egyptians created the
first clock which was a
clock where they used a water dripping
vessel which was calibrated against the
movements of the Sun to tell the time
now interestingly enough it was the most
accurate time measurement until the 17th
century when the pendulum clock was
invented water has also been used to
further exemplify beauty and magnify
what we know as beautiful and as nature
so my idea was to apply this ancient
water dropping technique to solar panels
in order to make a solar panel
mechanically track the Sun it’s called
the solar system now this water drip
system works by matching the water tanks
on one side of the solar panel to the
force and strength applied by a spring
system on the other side now this means
that I’m able to control the drip amount
and slowly rotate the panel’s throughout
the day matching the path of the Sun the
solar system could be an exciting tool
for developing communities as it’s able
to provide both water and power by
filtering the water once it comes out of
this water drip system we can provide
developing communities with a safe
access a safe reliable water source and
power a 72 percent increase in power
output shows you how ancient technology
can be refocused and how we can bring
the past into the future when Thomas
Edison was asked how did it feel to fail
countless times he replied I didn’t fail
a thousand times the light bulb was an
invention with a thousand steps now I
know that I’m going to fail and I’m
going to be disappointed constantly but
when this happens it just means that you
need to get up it means that you need to
try harder and it means that you need to
try something different we need to start
experimenting with a childlike curiosity
and imagination which can be inspired by
the past and don’t let anyone tell you
that your age matters
don’t let anyone tell you that your
gender matters anyone can find simple
solutions to global problems the answers
are out there someone just needs to go
and rediscover them start by using the
past to change the future thank you
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
so today I want to start by going back
to be specific about 2,000 years now I
want you to picture ancient Rome
what image has come to your mind the
gladiators Colosseum Julius Caesar or
maybe armies wearing scale mail perhaps
a bit like this now I want to change
your focus to a modern-day oncology unit
specifically women who are undergoing
radiotherapy breast cancer treatment can
you see a connection now there’s nothing
obvious I can grant you that but today I
would like to talk to you about two of
my major science projects both of which
were inspired by the past scale mail and
ancient Egyptian water clocks to help
solve two very different problems I’m 16
years old and I love science and
engineering in case you hadn’t guessed
from the teacher as a scientist I am
along with so many others constantly
thinking about where we’ll be in five
years in ten years even in 50 years time
it’s a question which constantly drives
our curiosity and our imagination to
help solve global problems with simple
answers whether this be clean energy or
health there are major concerns facing
our planet today now not only is our
generation going to inherit these
problems but we’re also creating new
ones for ourselves but I believe that
when it comes to coming up with
solutions we can look to the past we can
use the past to change the future taking
things that have been used before and
repurposing them in a different way now
if you’ve ever gone to the dentist for
an x-ray you’ll be familiar with this
scene the dentist comes into the room
they place a lead apron over the top of
you whilst they quickly jump out and you
get your x-ray well this is a similar
type shield that might be used if you’re
undergoing
radio therapy breast cancer treatment
but it isn’t failsafe the LED that they
use is toxic it costs a lot of money and
it costs a lot of time for the Centers
which is why they tend to opt out of
this decision however this means that
the women who are undergoing this
treatment will receive harmful unwanted
radiation to their contralateral breast
which is just a fancy word for the
breast that’s not being treated and this
is an unwanted byproduct of being free
of cancer studies have shown that one in
14 women who undergo this treatment will
develop a second primary cancer in this
breast later in their lifetime which is
where my idea for scale mail comes in
something which I’ve learnt about in
movies and museums could this ancient
shielding technique be more effective
than what we’re using today
now some early forms of scale mail were
documented by the Chinese who used them
to protect their horses during battle a
Japanese samurai used to beat individual
leaves replicating that of fish scales
was also found in Roman and Persian
armies and is also found on this very
cute animal called the Pangolin which is
very effective for protection so this is
my device called the smart armor which
stands for scale male armor for
radiation therapy so I made this by
meticulously and painfully interweaving
these individual scales together using
pliers and jump rings for what felt like
an eternity so to test my device I used
what would we would consider typical
breast cancer treatment and this was
found that I could reduce doses to the
contralateral breast by up to 80%
reducing the radiation levels to this
breast by 80% now what makes this device
difference which you may have already
noticed is not only the use of scale
mail but it’s also the use of copper now
I found that copper was 20% more
effective at the skin level than LED
something that contradicts global
standards
should be using lead now I’ve performed
all of my testing at the Chris O’Brien
Life house and I’m overwhelmed and
absolutely ecstatic at the response it
has approval from the Therapeutic Goods
Administration of Australia which means
that it’s ready for clinical use I have
a provisional patent on it so don’t go
thinking you can steal it and my paper
is soon to be published in the Journal
of applied Medical Physics which is
based in North America now they’re still
of course a lot of work to be done but
through experimentation through
curiosity and a bit of a mad imagination
this just shows how an ancient
technology can be refocused for future
scientific breakthrough
the ancient curving conforming nature of
this material made it ideal for its new
purpose potentially saving lives now I’d
like to change your focus a bit to a
problem where I’ve also focused my
thinking solar panels which are
expensive to buy difficult to install
and thus become almost impractical when
helping to solve the developing world’s
great energy crisis many millions of
dollars and thousands of researchers
across the world are looking to improve
solar panels efficiency by one or two
percent I discovered that I could
improve a solar panel spout put by up to
72% through the combination of ancient
technology and the modern solar panels
now on a different note for a second 71%
of our world is covered in water
ninety six point five percent of this is
found in the oceans now of all of this
water that covers our planet only 1% is
able to be drunk at only 1% holds the
basic properties needed to make it
consumable now I want you guys to
remember this because this becomes
important a little bit later but for
centuries humans have used water to
scientifically aid our existence in 1500
BC the ancient Egyptians created the
first clock which was a
clock where they used a water dripping
vessel which was calibrated against the
movements of the Sun to tell the time
now interestingly enough it was the most
accurate time measurement until the 17th
century when the pendulum clock was
invented water has also been used to
further exemplify beauty and magnify
what we know as beautiful and as nature
so my idea was to apply this ancient
water dropping technique to solar panels
in order to make a solar panel
mechanically track the Sun it’s called
the solar system now this water drip
system works by matching the water tanks
on one side of the solar panel to the
force and strength applied by a spring
system on the other side now this means
that I’m able to control the drip amount
and slowly rotate the panel’s throughout
the day matching the path of the Sun the
solar system could be an exciting tool
for developing communities as it’s able
to provide both water and power by
filtering the water once it comes out of
this water drip system we can provide
developing communities with a safe
access a safe reliable water source and
power a 72 percent increase in power
output shows you how ancient technology
can be refocused and how we can bring
the past into the future when Thomas
Edison was asked how did it feel to fail
countless times he replied I didn’t fail
a thousand times the light bulb was an
invention with a thousand steps now I
know that I’m going to fail and I’m
going to be disappointed constantly but
when this happens it just means that you
need to get up it means that you need to
try harder and it means that you need to
try something different we need to start
experimenting with a childlike curiosity
and imagination which can be inspired by
the past and don’t let anyone tell you
that your age matters
don’t let anyone tell you that your
gender matters anyone can find simple
solutions to global problems the answers
are out there someone just needs to go
and rediscover them start by using the
past to change the future thank you
[Applause]
[Music]
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