Young local engineer wins prestigious science award

Juan Sarcia, an engineering student at MCAST, won the top prize at the ‘Contest for Young Scientists’.

The winning project was a real-time vehicle ECU logging via android tablet, with the awards being handed out during the NSTF Science Expo.

As a result of his nomination, Sarcia will now represent Malta during the ‘EU Contest for Young Scientists’ (EUCYS), which will take place in Warsaw.

The project monitors fuel, speed, battery voltage, as well as faults and information obtained from the car’s ECU. The data gets transferred onto an android application, from which it is illustrated as real-time.

The information can then be saved and accessed from a web page where it is recorded for monitoring. This system can be implemented for any type of car.

The primary aim of the contest, which is organised by the NSTS Foundation (NSTF), is to encourage students to be original and creative in conducting scientific research, whilst developing a scientific or technological project.

Students can choose to work either individually or in groups, with the projects then exhibited during the Science Expo.

The NSTS Foundation is the national organisor of the EUCYS and, since 1997, has been selecting students to represent Malta in this European event. In 2009, MCAST electronics student, Philip Cardona, was the first Maltese student to be awarded a prize at the ‘EU Contest for Young Scientists’. His project “Cappuccino Logo Printer” was awarded second prize.