Relebohile Mosea, a homeschooler from Bloemfontein in the Free State, who won the Science Expo prize. Mosea began homeschooling in the second term of 2021 through Impaq. According to her parents, she is self-disciplined and self-driven. Hence, in order to support her, they decided to provide her an atmosphere where practically everything is self-driven.
During a media interview, Mosea said that the Science Expo gave her the opportunity to exhibit her inventive side. Mosea spoke about her interest in science. She said, “I very much enjoyed the science expo. What I enjoyed most about it was that I got to not only showcase my innovations throughout the years, but also compete with other young scientists on the continent”. She added, “Being surrounded by other incredible young scientists and learning from them when participating in the competition was remarkable. I started participating in 2019, and I received a Gold Award at the provincial level of the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists and the Best Energy Project Award for that year”.
Mosea’s project for the year was to create a Dual Energy Power Bank, which made her participate in the Eskom Expo International Science Fair, where she got a Bronze Medal. Mosea’s dual-energy power bank project was appreciated by the judges and panelists because it addressed major societal concerns affecting our nation and the world, such as load shedding and a shortage of electricity supply in some places of the country.
In 2020, she re-entered the competition and earned a training course to help her enhance her invention abilities. The young scientist received a gold medal at the provincial level of the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists held in the beginning of the year. Additionally, she also got a highly prestigious prize from the Eskom Expo for Young Scientists International Science Fair for her research known as, ‘A Novel Approach to Vaccine Development.’
Nanotechnology has been applied successfully in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic illnesses such as cancer and TB. Mosea intends to put her idea to the test by using this technique on Covid-19 to see how far she can progress in terms of vaccine development. The young scientist aims to develop a prototype of the capsule for her study and test it in order to fight the Covid-19 disease.
