Tree frogs, cars and football were the inspiration behind three of the 25 projects developed by this year’s student finalists in the BHP Billiton Science and Engineering Awards.

The prestigious school science awards, founded in 1981, are a partnership between BHP Billiton, CSIRO and the Australian Science Teachers Association. The awards recognise school students who demonstrate innovation in their projects through their design of an invention or approach to practical research.

The 26 finalists will attend a three day camp in Melbourne this coming week which includes visits to an innovation lab, Monash University’s Centre for Human Anatomy Education and CSIRO’s Synchrotron.

New to this year’s program is an Innovation to Market award which will see finalists participate in a shark tank presentation, similar to the popular television program, where finalists work in teams to invent a product and fast track their innovation.

A national prize is also awarded in the Teachers’ category to a teacher who has made an outstanding contribution to classroom science education.

The awards will be presented at a luncheon on 9 February in Melbourne. In addition to cash prizes, six student winners will have the chance to compete at the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) held in the US in May.

Read more about some of the projects below:

Tree frogs provide promise for Alzheimer’s disease 

While there is no cure to prevent Alzheimer’s yet, researchers worldwide are working to develop effective treatments.

Researchers have found that Alzheimer’s is caused by the build up of a protein known as beta-amyloid on the brain which damages and destroys brain cells. For her project, Hannah Sutton from Hobart, Tasmania investigated using peptide Caerin 1.9, found in the skin glands of the Australian tree frog, to clear the protein.

Hannah’s findings from the research, the first of its kind, were positive. While further investigation is needed, it could offer a promising therapeutic treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.

Youngest finalist helps pedestrians PAASS safely

Lawrence Pawar of Victoria, one of this year’s youngest finalists, regularly read news stories about pedestrian accidents caused by reversing cars.

In Australia, rear impact collisions with pedestrians are on the rise with 1,300 injured in Victoria and more than 1,700 in New South Wales, according to a Monash University study. The majority of collisions are in driveways, parking lots and workplaces. Many incidents are unreported.

Convinced he could find a way to help pedestrians and drivers, Lawrence invented the Pedestrian Auto Alert Safety System or PAASS.

PAASS joins two alert systems – one for pedestrians and the other for drivers – and uses three safety levels based on artificial intelligence. The Pedestrian Alert System detects the presence of a pedestrian and alerts them to a reversing car. At the same time, the Driver Alert System alerts the driver when a pedestrian is behind the car. If the two levels of safety fail to protect the pedestrian, the Reverse Automatic Braking System will activate to stop the car.

Car design improvements like the PAASS system, along with driver education and child road safety programs, can play an important role to help reduce pedestrian injuries and fatalities.

Robotic arm brings hope to those like Sydney Swans footballer Barnaby Howarth

Fast paced sports like go-kart racing and dismantling and testing machines are favourite pastimes for Sarsha Carroll, 15, of Adelaide.

But it was a meeting with Sydney Swans footballer, Barnaby Howarth, that was her inspiration. At aged 25, Barnaby suffered a stroke and lost mobility of his left side. Although he continues to regularly undergo physiotherapy to improve control of his left hand, he is still unable to use it.

Sarsha determined a robotic arm might be able to help and set about to create one that is stable, light weight and durable.

The Lego Robotic Arm was developed to assist stroke sufferers in their treatment and recovery, and people who have lost mobility to regain movement.

The technology, which can also be applied to create robotic devices for other parts of the body, brings hope to restore independence to others like Barnaby Howarth.