This year saw a greater number of entries, in all the categories, than in past years and we hope this is the beginning of a new trend for the future.

Winner in the Undergrad category, sponsored by the CSIR, was Maria Müller, of the University of Pretoria (UP), supervised by Prof Philip Crouse, for her paper on a kinetic model for the catalytic decomposition of tetrafluoroethylene. 

Winner in the Postgraduate Research category was Vhutshilo Madzivhandila, also of UP, supervised by Prof Thoko Majozi of UP and Prof Toshko Zhelev of the University of Limerick in Ireland. His paper covered pinch analysis for efficient energy utilization in IGCC plants. 

In the Specialization Awards: Energy category, the winners were Marco Furrutter and Darren Gabriel from the University of Johannesburg, supervised by Prof Johan Meyer. The paper looked at hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles. 

Winner in the Specialization Awards: Water category, was Joseph Bwapwa, a student at UKZN, supervised by K Foxon and C Buckley of the Pollution Research Group, and comprised an analysis of an anaerobic baffled reactor treating complex particulate wastewater in an ABR membrane bioreactor unit. 

The judges decided to award a special prize for environmental engineering to Puxley Mashele of UP (supervisor Walter Focke) for his paper on stabilization of LDPE and HDPE films. 

We extend our heartiest congratulations to all the winners and thank all those who entered from various institutions around the country.