The following were the finalists in the 2011 Young Persons' World Lecture Competition held in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on 29 September.

Follow the links to find out more about each of the finalists

• Lindsay McManus, University of Ulster, Ireland finalist: 'Characterisation of the osteogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells using Raman spectroscopy'
• Jenni Tilley, University of Oxford, UK finalist: 'Faster, higher, stronger: hero materials of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games' 3rd place
• Mitali Kakran, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore finalist: 'Graphene - the new wonder material!' Winner
• Elisa Guzman Teipel, Whole Tree Inc and Baylor University, SPE finalist: 'Polymeric composites reinforced with natural fillers from agricultural waste: WTI CSP technology'
• Tom Bush, Ove Arup & Partners Hong Kong Ltd, Hong Kong finalist: 'Enhanced use of underground space in Hong Kong'
• Dyllon Randall, University of Cape Town, South Africa finalist: 'Pass the salt - recovery of water and salts from mining brines using eutectic freeze crystallization' 2nd place
• Muhammad Ghaddafy Bin Affendy, University Sains Malaysia, Malaysia finalist: 'Polymer zinc-air batteries - energizing a sustainable world'
• Gustavo Henrique Bolognesi Donato, FEI University Centre, Brazil finalist: 'Relevance of constraint-designed specimens for the accurate assessment of materials' fatigue and fracture resistance'
• Charles Fisher, University of Florida, Florida finalist: 'Design of smart metal-matrix composites for sustainability and advanced performance'

See also:

News item on 2011 competition final

The 2010 World Lecture Competition was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on 20 September.

Watch the presentations from the 2010 competition on IOM3 TV

Participants and their lecture titles:

• Pedro Costa, University of Minho, Portugal finalist: 'Rapid Prototyping Tools and Strategies for Tissue Engineering Applications'
• Lee Jo May, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia finalist: '3 (+1R) Concept in Solving Plastic Waste Disposal Problem'
• Mura McCarthy, University of Ulster, Ireland finalist: 'Response of human mesenchymal stem cells to modified biomaterial surfaces'
• Katie Moore, University of Oxford, UK finalist: 'NanoSIMS Analysis of Arsenic and Selenium in Cereal Grains' - Third place
• Jason Myers, University of Florida, USA finalist: 'Enhanced Organic Photovoltaic Cell Performance using Transparent Microlens Arrays' - Winner
• Ferhan Oktobriadi Putra Abdul Rahim, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore finalist: 'Tunable Surfacial Assembly of Gold Nanorods on Glass for Biosensor Applications' - Second place
• Tong Ho Wang, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong finalist: 'Electrospinning: An Old Technology for Modern Medicine'

News item announcing the winner

The 2010 competition is sponsored by CBMM and the Malaysian Rubber Board, with support from Rolls-Royce.

The 2009 World Lecture Competition was held at Port Elizabeth, South Africa, on 14 October.

Participants and their lecture titles:

• Mitali Kakran, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore finalist: 'Nanosized and nanocoated drug particles for enhanced bioavailability of poorly water soluble drugs'. - Joint second place
• Katrina Khairudin, Malaysia finalist: ‘Biodegradable polymers’.
• Jeanette Leeuwner, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa finalist: ‘Computational fluid dynamic modelling of two phase flow in a mining hydrocyclone'. - Joint second place

• Kevin O’Flynn, University College Dublin, Ireland finalist: 'Cementless hip replacement – a materials science perspective'.

• Rochelle O’Hara, Queen’s University, Belfast, UK finalist: 'Development of an injectable medical material for spinal repair’. - Winner

• Vitor Espírito Santo, PhD student at the University of Minho, Portugal finalist: 'Different approaches based on natural polymers for bone and cartilage tissue regeneration'.

• Shruti Seshandri, a PhD student at the University of Florida, USA finalist: 'Learning from nature: building materials from self-assembly', unfortunately had to withdraw due to visa problems.

News item announcing 2009 winner

The 2009 competition was sponsored by CBMM, with support from Rolls-Royce and Protea Chemicals.

Download sponsor information (PDF 116KB)

The 2008 World Lecture Competition was held at the University of Florida, USA, on 23 September 2008.

Participants and their lecture titles:

• Sinan Al Bermani, University of Sheffield, UK finalist: ‘Digital manufacture for medicine’. – Winner
• Anabela Alves, University of Minho, Portugal finalist: ‘The extraction and modification of polymers obtained from renewable marine residues’. – Second place
• Shang Lei, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore finalist: ‘Drug release rate control principles of hydrogel-based drug delivery systems’.

• Daniel Lo, Canada finalist: 'Production of porous anodic alumina from impure aluminum'.

• John Lyons, Centre for Nanotechnology and Materials Research, Ireland finalist: ‘The incorporation of an organically modified layered silicate in monolithic polymeric matrices using hot melt extrusion’ – Third place

• Cagal Meral, PhD student at the University of California, USA (West) finalist: 'Supercritical carbon dioxide treatment of portland cement'.

• Yamuna Munusamy, Malaysia finalist: 'Nanoclay filled polymer composites for halogen free cable applications'.

• Karran (Chris) Woan, Doctoral research student, USA (East) finalist: ‘The materials science of metal oxide nanoparticle antioxidants’.

News item announcing 2008 winner

The 2008 competition was sponsored by Rolls-Royce, CBMM, and Anglo American.

Download sponsor information (PDF 1.3MB)

The 2007 World Lecture Competition was held in Singapore on Wednesday 8 August. Participants were:

• Mohammad Khairul Zarifi bin Haji Masri, representing Brunei, ‘High strain rate deformation of nickel-titanium shape memory alloy’.
• Argus Chan Ka Cheung, representing Hong Kong, ‘Flash memory in future – From non-volatile memory to single electron device’.
• From the UK, John Forsdike, ‘Blisks’ and their role in aero-gas turbines’.
• Richard Cross, representing the USA, ‘Probabilistic failure prediction of fatigue critical components and structures’.
• Mary Donnabelle I Balela, representing Malaysia, ‘Cobalt nanoparticles: synthesis, properties, and applications’. - Winner
• Martin McMullan, contestant for Ireland, ‘Electrochemical implantable sensor: design, fabrication and detection of lactate’. - Third place
• Representing Singapore, Ricky Chua Kee Sze, ‘Polymer electronic materials’. - Second place

Download brochure with results, abstracts of the winning entries and further information (PDF 2.3mb)

See also the news item Malaysian student wins Young Persons’ World Lecture Competition

The competition was held on 20 June 2006 at Carlton House Terrace.

The entrants were as follows:

• Eoin Cunningham, Ireland, 'Macrostructural replication of marine algae to mimic cancellous bone'. - Third place
• Selin Teo Hwee Gee, Singapore, 'Photonic bandgap crystals'.
• Damian Williams, South Africa, 'Novel 2-mercaptobenzothiazole-capped nano ZnO and ZnS materials as activators for the vulcanization of polydiene rubbers'.
• Andrew Tarpey, UK, 'Structural adhesive use in lightweight vehicle architecture'. - Winner
• Sarah Rebecca Galatioto, Florida, USA, 'Improving surgical masks to kill and prevent the inhalation of bacteria and viruses'. - Second place
  

News item announcing the winner

Rolls-Royce plc sponsored the competition.

The first Young Persons' World Lecture Competition took place at the Institute's headquarters at Carlton House Terrace on 21 June 2005.

Participants and their lecture titles:

• Johnny Kar-Ho Au, Ove Arup & Partners, Hong Kong, 'Impressed Current Cathodic Protection for Reinforced Concrete Structures'. - Second place
• Eleanor Merson, University of Leeds, UK, 'Chevron Cracks in Steel Welds'.
• Emily Schmidt, Florida, USA, 'Design Concept Development for Contact Lens Characterization'.
• Libby Sharman-Harris, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, 'The Use of Sulphur-Isotope Analysis towards the Understanding of the Formation of Sulphide Minerals in the Platreef, Northern Limb, Bushveld Complex, South Africa'. - Winner
• Eric Kan, Singapore, 'Nanocrystalline Germanium for Memory Applications: Small Dots with Big Potentials'. - Third place

News item announcing the winner

The event was supported by Rolls-Royce plc.