World acclaim for Thai students' invention to help coral reefs
After recently winning three domestic and international awards, two Burapha University students have received a prestigious honour at a Geneva contest for their latest invention.
It’s a computer-controlled lighting system to stimulate and speed up the growth of coral in threatened reefs.
The system’s LED bulbs can generate light in different shades and frequencies that simulate natural surroundings of sunlight and moonlight. The result is coral can reach growth maturity weeks and even months faster than normal.
The award-winning students are Natthakorn Kasemsamran, a freshman at the Faculty of Engineering at the Chon Buri-based university, and Natthaphol Chaimark, a fourth-year student at the same faculty.
They said the Golden Award from the 43rd International Exhibition of Inventions in Geneva at Palexpo convention in Switzerland would always be remembered as their first global achievement.
Their preparation for the presentation include translation of explanations into French, for the judges and guests in the French-speaking sector of the country.
Natthakorn and Natthaphol said the judges’ inquiries and inspection of the |invention at the Geneva contest had been intense.
The Golden Award was a surprise to them both as the other inventions presented in this contest were products of senior researchers or students with master’s or doctorate degrees from many countries.
Their invention, titled “computer-controlled LED lights for rearing and propagating corals”, had previously won an award from the office of the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT), an award titled The Best Invention on Bio Technology from an event in Japan, and the Honorary Award from an event in Macau.
Natthakorn said the invention had already drawn interest from Australian scientists at the event. Their country was experiencing coral bleaching at a very large scale at speedy rates due to changing climate, he said.
An Indian engineering institute had also contacted the pair for information. Plus a Switzerland-based firm, Air Gomm GmbH, had made inquiries into their invention as it wanted to adapt the bulb-related technology to speed up growth of grasses for use as animal feed, or for grass on football pitches or golf courses.
A Burapha University lecturer, Norrarat Wattanamongkhol who is an adviser to both Natthakorn and Natthaphol, said the |technology, however advanced, would be even better as an achievement when combined with Thai unity on protecting the |environment and conserving energy.
YouTube link for more information on the invention:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK6JOZ8rIJA
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