A student of the Philippine Science High School – Main Campus won second place in the 2022 Clean Tech Competition, special project of the Center for Science Teaching and Learning (CSTL).
Gwen Lianna Valimento stood out as one of the top three winners among entries coming from 50 different nations worldwide.
Valimentoโs research titled “Development of a Gentoo penguin (Pygoscelis papua) flipper-inspired hydro Kaplan turbine blade” focused on using biomimicry to develop a turbine blade that increases the efficiency of hydroelectric power generators. Inspired by the flipper of the Gentoo penguin, this blade generates energy at a higher rate than turbine blades commonly employed today.
Adrian Sumalde served as her research adviser.
According to the Clean Tech Competition website, CSTL is a not-for-profit organization with a mission of encouraging science learning and literacy. Its approach to science education is multi-faceted, but student inquiry and project-based learning is the foundation for all program development.
Text and graphic by Aries N. Oliveros