Aidan Aird - ACE Young Achiever 2015
Date: 22-01-2015
Author: Freddie Cooper
Canadian Teenager Celebrates Further Success
Huge Congratulations to Canadian teen, Aidan Aird, on winning Eduzine Global ACE Young Achiever 2015. After a selection process undertaken by our Global Young Ambassadors followed by a public vote, Aidan secured more votes than the other finalists, pipping big hearted Joshua Williams and STEMsational David Adeyemi at the post. Congratulations also go to the other finalists, each of whom would also have been a deserving winner, were it not for the incredible support Aidan received. You are all amazing young achievers!
Aidan follows in the footsteps of our 2014 inaugural ACE Young Achiever Adam Bojelian (aka Ads The Poet) who is now our poetry editor. Aidan will shortly be asked to nominate his chosen children's charity, which we will promote and donate to in 2015 alongside our other charitable commitments. The team at EduzineGlobal.com was overwhelmed by the amazing response to our public vote ... so much so, the initial rush to vote caused us a technical hiccup which was speedily resolved by our fantastic friends at Serenity Digital. For those of you who missed our feature on Aidan last year, we have republished it below.
Finally, a big thank you to all those many thousands who voted or got involved in celebrating these fabulous young achievers. It demonstrates that positive stories about young people are in ever increasing demand and shows just how many awesome kids, teens & young adults there are across the globe!
INNOVATOR AIDAN REACHES OUT
Aidan Aird (centre in the below picture) like many young people, is passionate about science, technology, engineering and math (S.T.E.M.). However, Aidan took his passion to another level by setting up an organisation to help others learn about S.T.E.M. The Developing Innovations website & organization, established by Aidan, was designed to inspire, celebrate and promote young S.T.E.M. students. Aidan says " It's a place we can share our knowledge, inspire and encourage the new generation of students interested in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. In addition, we plan to provide meaningful information about post-secondary funding opportunities and scholarships available to S.T.E.M.students. Also, we plan to include a section on the website that will help graduating S.T.E.M. students find a job in their preferred field of study."
Aidan told EduzineGlobal.com "I’m 15 and attend Saint Brother Andre C.H.S. in the Pre-AP Program, with a 97% GPA. I’m on the SBA Robotics, Reach for the Top, and Tennis Teams. I also play trumpet and guitar. My experiences at the past two Canada-Wide Science Fairs (CWSF’s) have greatly impacted my life and my vision is that of a social entrepreneur. This calling to help others through developing innovations lead me to design the Turbo-Eco Cookstove Plus. This modular stove has the capabilities to charge small electrical devices by using a thermoelectric generator, purifies water, and reduces emissions through complete combustion. When I’m not working on my innovations I can be found at the University of Toronto Science and Engineering Program. I am most proud of the 11 of 14 professional SolidWorks courses I have taken this past year and looking forward to completing the CSWP Exam and becoming the youngest certified SolidWorks Professional in the world. I feel that today’s S.T.E.M. students will have the greatest positive impact on the future of the world and its people."
Science Fair Projects
Aidan has recently won Gold at the 2014 CWSF with his project 'The Turbo-Eco Cookstove Plus'. This is a highly efficient, modular, multifunctional stove; that cooks food, purifies water and charges small electronic devices such as a mobile phone or LED light, all at the same time. The prime motivator for designing this high efficiency stove which uses less fuel and emits less harmful emissions than traditional fires or stoves was to improve living conditions in developing countries.
Aidan added "For the previous year (2012 Science Fair), I had wanted to find a topic that was interesting, challenging, solve a problem that affects mankind, and would make Mr. Linton, my science teacher who sadly passed away earlier that year, proud. I chose to design and build a Subsonic Open-Circuit Wind Tunnel and subsequently wanted to develop an aircraft wingtip that will save fuel, which will help make the planet a greener place. The Subsonic Open-Circuit Wind Tunnel is a total functional, stand alone wind tunnel that was designed to be easily taken apart and transported to science venues and educational institutes. Extensive research was conducted in the planning stage for this educational wind tunnel and is capable of performing both quantitative tests and qualitative studies on objects to determine their aerodynamic properties, by producing meaningful data."For the 2013 CWSF, Aidan's project was to prove that the Advanced Aerodynamic Aircraft Wing System that he designed and built using the CAD program 'SolidWorks', will produce better aerodynamic properties than the best present day wing system used by the Boeing 737. Aidan said "I tested the AAA Wing System using the Subsonic Open-Circuit Wind Tunnel I built last year, and Computational Fluid Dynamic Software."
"I have thoroughly enjoyed working on these projects and hope to start an after school program that will utilize the wind tunnel. Science Fair has been a fantastic experience and would highly recommend it to other students interested in science."
Educational Outreach Projects
Developing Innovations will be taking a number of teams of highly enthusiastic S.T.E.M. Educational Ambassadors out into the community in an effort to promote S.T.E.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) They will be visiting schools, camps, clubs, groups and events in an effort to promote, teach and engage young students in interesting and fun STEM related topics.
Aidan told EduzineGlobal.com "We were very excited to add the impressive looking Fiddle Beetle to Developing Innovations Educational Outreach Program insect collection. The young students that attend our presentations on “The Wonderful World of Insects” are always fascinated by unique exotic insects. This is mainly because many of the students have never seen a lot of these large and strange looking insects before and if they have, it wasn’t probably up close. The Fiddle Beetle or Violin Beetle and sometimes called the Banjo Beetle (Mormolyce Phyllodes), are ground beetles that have evolved to a point where its strange flattened torso allows the beetle to hunt for insects in the narrow spaces between the bark and wood of decaying trees, plus bracket fungi. The beetles none scientific names (Fiddle, Violin, and Banjo) come from its distinctive shape elytra, sometimes called shards. The elytra is a hardened forewing that serves as protective, armour like wing cases for the hindwings which are located underneath for some insects, such as the Maybug. For this particular beetle the elytra are fused together, rendering the insect flightless. This impressive looking beetle was originally from Sumatra Island, Indonesia and was recently acquired from the respected collection of Fossil Realm, who specialize in rare fossils and high-end minerals, also have an extensive insect collection."
Developing Innovations was also delighted to acquire a fossil of a Knightia for its Educational Outreach Program. This prehistoric small schooling fish was an important food source in the freshwater lakes that dotted Wyoming 50 million years ago in the Eocene.
Aidan commented "This particular Knightia fossil came from the famous Green River Formation. Knightia are small schooling fish related to herring and sardines. They had heavy scales and their size varied by species with most fossil specimens being no larger than 15 centimeters. They had small conical teeth and likely fed on algae and diatoms, as well as insects and possibly smaller fish. Occasionally, fossils are found with Knightia trapped in the jaws or stomach of larger predatory fish like the Diplomystus, Lepisosteus, Amphiplaga, Mioplosus, Phareodus, Amia and Asterphus."
In addition to the outreach projects, Developing Innovations also offers a range of workshops, learning, mentorship and eco-programmes and access to various resources and events.
Aidan believes Developing Innovations is: “Making the world a better place, through inspiring, celebrating and promoting young S.T.E.M. students.”
The team at EduzineGlobal.com agrees with Aidan and moreover believe Aidan is truly leading young people, who themselves are forging ahead, with innovative developments in the STEM field. Congratulations Aidan on your wonderful achievements and for becoming the Eduzine Global ACE Young Achiever 2015! Very best wishes for the future.
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Date: 22-01-2015
Author: Freddie Cooper
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