This year, the finals will be held at the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre on 16 August 2013.
In order to give students an idea of what it takes to be a civil engineer or related professional, students from each team are tasked to design and construct a model water distribution network. The teams are given unique 'design kits' which are purpose-made for the competition, containing all the 'pipes' and 'connections' that the students will need to build a pipeline capable of distributing three litres of water equally between three points on a given grid.
As part of its commitment to this valuable project, Marley Pipe Systems sponsored in excess of R50 000 to SAICE for the development of 30 new and complete kits which will be used by SAICE for the 2013 national finals of the schools competition. These new kits will be produced by trained technicians, and some of the materials imported from Hong Kong for the purpose of making the competition more realistic and easier to run by allowing students to design their networks with more scientific accuracy.
Marie Ashpole, outreach officer for SAICE emphasised the importance of industry support to make this valuable project happen: "Without industry, this competition would not be possible - it's fantastic to have companies such as Marley on board to help get our message across as a united industry and to encourage the youth to get into the civil engineering profession and related industries."
