Amber-Kraczkowska

 

[Music plays and images of award participants flash by on screen. Text appears: BHP Billiton Science and Engineering Awards 2017]

[Image changes to show Amber Kraczkowska standing by the pool and performing some martial art exercises]

[Image changes to show Amber standing and smiling at the camera]

Amber Kraczkowska: Hi, my name is Amber Kraczkowska, I’m 14-years old and I attend Pembroke School in Adelaide.

[Image changes to show Amber seated and talking to the camera]

The name of my project was The Chocolate Garden.

[Image changes to show Amber seated at a table and working on a computer]

So my experiment, The Chocolate Garden, investigated the efficiency of various systems for composting waste cocoa shell from Haigh’s Chocolates. About 20 per cent of the total mass of cocoa beans used to make chocolate actually ends up as a waste cocoa shell, but the chemical composition of this cocoa shell makes an ideal composting material.

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I love chocolate and the idea of researching something related to chocolate was, admittedly, quite motivating. I also hope to find a long term solution to recycling this waste cocoa shell,

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and I believe that a real solution can be found to recycle most of the waste that we generate.

[Image changes to show Amber operating a drill and constructing a compost bin which she then pours cocoa shell waste in to]

Prior to the experiment I had a minimal understand of microbial activity and how temperature, moisture, carbon and nitrogen levels all affected microbial activity.

[Image changes to show the contents of the compost bin with a gauge like device sitting on top of the compost bin]

So I had a lot to learn about the subject during this project,

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and writing a proper scientific paper was quite difficult, but I feel that the skills that I have gained are very, very valuable.

[Image changes to show the camera panning over pictures of Amber when she was a young child]

When I was younger I was extremely curious and I asked about like five thousand questions a day (chuckles).

[Camera moves to show a trophy on a shelf and then moves to show Amber scrolling through different pictures of her project on a computer screen]

I’m a really social person so I speak a lot and I love talking to people and finding out what their background is and what their life is like and I like to develop my own life from other people’s experiences.

[Image changes back to show Amber seated and talking to the camera]

In the future I would like to pursue a career in cybernetics where I can work on the integration of humans and machines. I believe that human enhancement is the next direction of human evolution.

[Image changes to show different pictures of Amber participating in different activities]

If I was the smartest person in the world, I would accelerate the Space Program, to develop interstellar travel, this way people could explore and colonise other planets and stars,

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significantly increasing the chance for long term survival for humanity. If a trip to Mars came up, I would definitely put my hand up.

[Image changes back to show Amber standing by the pool performing martial art exercises]

So when I was younger I decided to practice martial arts because I saw a really, really cool movie that had a person doing some really, really crazy marital arts, so I started then and for eight years I haven’t stopped, I find that it also helps me deal with stress and anxiety, and it makes me feel really relaxed afterwards, and I feel really good that I am confident from this and I’m able to defend myself in situations which require it.

[Image changes to show Amber scuba diving, she’s on the seafloor and surrounded by various fish]

Both my parents scuba dive and when I was 12 I got my first open water certification. I just love being underwater and having that really relaxing and calm surrounding.

[Image changes back to show Amber seated and talking to the camera]

When I got the phone call that said I was a finalist in the BHP Billiton Science and Engineering Awards I felt really, really happy that I actually got selected, because I didn’t imagine that my project would be that good to be able to be accepted into this amazing opportunity. I just felt really pleased that people are actually taking my research into consideration and thinking that waste recycling is actually quite a considerable issue in society.

[Image changes to show Amber taking a bow]

[Music plays and text appears: BHP Billiton Science and Engineering Awards 2017]

[Sponsors logos appear on screen]