Africa-Press – South-Africa. Two young South African aspiring scientists have won awards after showcasing their research projects to judges and their peers at the 2024 Taiwan International Science Fair, Eskom announced on Friday.
The fair took place from January 27 to February 2 at the National Taiwan Science Education Centre in Taipei.Johannes Jacobus Deysel, a grade 11 pupil at Hoërskool Jim Fouché in Bloemfontein, was awarded the Third Award in the computer science and information engineering category.
Lethabo Molobi, a grade 12 pupil at Zinniaville Secondary School in the North West’s Bojanala region, was awarded the Fourth Award and the Viewer’s Choice Award in the behavioural and social sciences category at the fair.
Deysel showcased his research project titled “Breaking a Caesar cipher/Vigenère cipher encryption for secure data communication”.
This project aimed to identify vulnerabilities in ciphers and explore the factors influencing the strength of an encryption system by breaking both Caesar and Vigenère ciphers.
“Receiving recognition at a prestigious international science event was a tremendous honour for me.
“Being surrounded by some of the brightest minds of our generation was an experience that will forever resonate with me,” Deysel said.Molobi exhibited her research project titled “From Human Intelligence to Artificial Intelligence Chatbots: Modern Day Writing”, which examined whether it was easy to differentiate between artificial intelligence (AI)-generated text and human-generated text, in a school setting.
“I am extremely happy with my award. Nothing makes me happier than seeing my hard work pay off,” she said, adding that she learnt a lot from the other participants, and also about different countries and their cultural practices.
“Having been exposed to Taiwanese culture, the language and the people was an experience I will always cherish,” Molobi said.
Molobi encouraged young aspiring scientists to make thoughtful selections when choosing a project category for their participation in the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists.Acting CEO of the Eskom Development Foundation Mologadi Motshele congratulated the two and said their recognition among 630 young scientists from 27 countries was no mean feat.
Eskom Expo executive director Parthy Chetty said its team of mentors put in many hours of hard work during the December holidays to prepare these pupils for the stringent competition.
“These international competitions go further than just the academic activities, by exposing the learners to various cultures and is also the start of many friendships spanning across continents,” Chetty said.
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