The JPS Science & Technology Expo 2011

I have not had any paying jobs, as usually all the decisions come back with the same response..."Unfortunately you are too young....” But I did have a remarkable working experience when working on a project this spring with a comrade of mine. This project was for the 2011 Jamaica Public Service Science and Technology Expo being held in Jamaica for high schools and colleges. The theme of the expo was “From Natural Resource to Creative Enterprise.” Together with my friend and the help of a past student of my high school we developed a plan to take local organic agricultural produce and transform it into an almost non-perishable form. This would allow for long-term storage and greatly minimize the losses incurred by the agricultural sector whenever a hurricane would visit the island. The method also incorporated a way to cook the produce if necessary so the idea of also making nutrient-rich snacks, and dehydrated food packages that can be distributed to areas hit by disasters or persons who need to carry compact meals with them came about. What really made our project stand out was that there are no methods similar to ours being used in Jamaica and the equipment was all operated by using renewable energy sources.

Mr Chin was like a mentor to us - Though he could be a bit tough sometimes in terms of the amount of work he wanted us to get done in a given time - and this project allowed my comrade and I to be exposed to many sophisticated scientific processes such as the workings of vacuum and pressure systems, low-temperature cooking, plumbing and the set-up and operation of solar panel systems. We also got some business experience as we had to develop a business plan to go along with our project and try to pitch it to judges. Despite the fact that our project placed 2nd at the regional finals (No working prototype at the time), and did not place in the top 3 for the all-island finals...approximately 4th ( Our business plan needed more work.) it was an immense learning experience that was worth every drop of blood(on rare occasions), sweat( downside of working with something running on solar electricity) and tears ( when it worked for the first time). We certainly will be returning for revenge in 2012!