7 minute read
Award winners
Three awesome young people report back on what they’ve each done since winning their John McLaren Youth Award scholarships.
Adi Bhattacharya (Academia)
Last year saw Adi graduate from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Engineering, specialising in Mechanical Engineering, with First Class Honours. Since being awarded the scholarship, he has been working hard to complete his Diploma in Plastics Engineering, finishing in a couple of weeks. While studying part time, he has been working as a Product Development Engineer at Fisher and Paykel Healthcare, where his role helps design respiratory and acute care devices for use in hospital ICUs.
When completing his Honours year, Adi was offered a place on the Dean's Honours List. This is awarded when a student scores in the top 5% of the cohort, based on their combined grade point average.
As part of that final year, Adi partnered with another student to work with an academic supervisor to develop an engineering research project, write a report (10,000+ words), and present the findings to academic and industry judges, to then be graded.
His project was centred around the 3D-printing of variable density shoe insoles for patients who suffer from foot complications caused by diabetes. Adi and his project partner developed an engineering process to scan a patient's foot and automatically produce a 3D model of a custom shoe insole that would relieve pressure from sensitive areas of the patient's foot. The design then enabled the pair to 3D print the shoe’s insole for the patient to use. Insoles were tested in trials, where a significant improvement in pressure reduction was measured when compared with other insoles on the market.
Adi and his partner’s concept was found to be a more effective solution for the treatment and prevention of foot complications caused by diabetes than many current existing therapies. The project won a Best Project Award – a prize awarded to only a handful of the best final year projects presented during the year. This prize was awarded by the Mechanical Engineering Group of New Zealand (MEG NZ), which is the professional body for mechanical engineers in Aotearoa New Zealand. Furthermore, this project received a 94.5% A+ grade – and is currently being used as an exemplar project for students completing their final year projects this year.
Adi says that receiving the award is allowing him to undertake further developmental opportunities, which include the postgraduate diploma but also a public speaking course, allowing him to develop his speaking skills and give him valuable insights into how to communicate and present his work more effectively.
‘The scholarship has been a big help in supporting me through this financially and has been a big motivating factor for me to seek further education. I am extremely grateful for the support and recognition afforded to me by Diabetes NZ.’
Danica Waters (Arts)
Danica is in her second year at Wellington’s Toi Rauwhārangi College of Creative Arts at Massey University. She is halfway through studying Visual Communication Design and has a special interest in photography.
She says the John McLaren Youth Award scholarship has been a huge help for her, paying for some of the many costs involved in studying design, especially the those associated with photographic printing. Danica says it’s not unusual to discover at the end of the semester that you’ve spent $500 on printing. Other ongoing costs include specialist card stock and design software subscriptions.
Danica says that while she has never been the most extraordinary student, she makes up for it in resilience, determination, and hard work. ‘I am passionate about my education, and I strive to make sure that everything I turn in is the best it can possibly be.’ Her good grades in art and design throughout high school have transferred over to her university results. She has won scholarships for her photography, including the landscape category for the De Ruiter Young Photographer of the Year and another from Diabetes Nelson Youth.
DREAM DESIGN GIG
Danica’s ultimate goal, once she graduates, is to design for print, and she has one particular project in mind. ‘For the last 17 years, I have been searching for representation in books for type 1 diabetes, but everything I have found has come up short. One day, I hope to design the cover of the book that finally lets people with diabetes feel seen,the book that helps the rest of the world to understand what we go through every second of every day.’
With feet firmly on the ground, Danica says she realises that success isn’t always about the letters you see on a report card but about the knowledge gained in the process.
Toby Thompson (Sporting)
Since 10-year-old Toby received the John McLaren Youth Award, he has gone on to win big.
Last October, he took away first place in the KartSport Rotorua Club Champs, as well as first place in their Points Series. His mum, Megan, says that winning both of these made him the first in the Cadet ROK class to go back to back with these results. (Cadet ROK is a class where competitors must be aged between six and nine years old. The kart’s wheel base is smaller than the more standard 900mm, it has a restricted exhaust header, and an 11,000 RPM limiter.)
Toby didn’t stop there for long. Later in October, he came away with First in his class for Round Three of the Top Half Series, which took place at KartSport Auckland. Megan explains, ‘This was a particularly amazing effort, with it being a national event and after he had an absolute shocker the round before.’
Winning the scholarship has also allowed Toby to get some one-onone coaching sessions at KartSport Marlborough, where this year's Nationals were held over Easter. He was able to attend the three club days before Nationals and came away with yet another first place in Cadet ROK for their Summer Series.
Not bad for the then eight year old who only started karting two and a half years ago.
The following year, Toby was diagnosed with type 1, just a few weeks after his eighth birthday, but Megan reports that the resilience and determination that her son has shown since his diagnosis continues to amaze her. ‘The way he has carried himself from challenge to challenge shows his strength of character and his grit and determination not to let anything get in the way of him doing what he loves.’
If he gets to follow his dream, Toby may well become his generation’s Cameron Waters, racing supercars and sprint cars. He also has a dream to race Outlaw Karts in the US.
This year, Toby is hoping to compete in two national race series. The first is the Top Half Series, where he will complete three rounds at three different racetracks: Tokoroa, Auckland, and Rotorua. The second national race series is the GoldStar Series, which is also run over three rounds but this time at the Taranaki, Hawke's Bay, and Wellington racetracks.
Ten-year-old Toby’s racing heroes are Scott Dixon, Scott McLaughlin, Liam Lawson, and Conor Daly.
