Making glass from beach sand? Forget it! Students from Hue University ofScience are using a new technique to make liquid glass from rice husksand ash.
Ho Phuoc Diep, Nguyen Thi Le Giang and Tran Thi Liencame up with the idea after reading an article that husks and ashcontain a high volume of silicon dioxide (SiO2), a key compound for thecreation of the liquid, or natri silicat (Na2O.nSiO2).
The glasscan be used for making waterproof paint, soap, cloth shoes and ceramics.The demand for liquid glass in Vietnam is thousands of tonnes eachyear, but current manufacturing processes involve complicated technologyfor baking white sand in a kiln heated to 1,300 degrees Celsius.
"TheSiO2 in husk and ash can easily be turned into liquid glass at muchlower temperatures, which means the price can be dramatically reduced.And as Vietnam is still an agricultural country, we have a lot of husksand ash," Diep said.
Diep said the team came across manychallenges during their experiments, from searching for relevantdocuments to designing experimental tools and finding a standardproduction process.
It took them eight months before they finallysucceeded. The students now hope to test their laboratory success on anindustrial scale.
The project was one of the outstanding worksthat won awards for Young Science Talent in 2014. The competition wasrun by the Ministries of Education and Training, and Science andTechnology, with help from the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industryand other organisations. The award aims to encourage lecturers andstudents in innovation.
Four students from the Hanoi Universityof Industry, Duong Van Thien, Pham Van Sang, Phan Van Nghiem and KieuThanh Son, won another prize for a pilotless aircraft.
Aftertwo-and-a-half years work, the students developed a drone with a rangeof one kilometre and a ceiling height of 500 metres.
It iscapable of transmitting data back to computers on the ground. Thien, thegroup's leader, said they learned from their mistakes, and lost theirdrone several times.
"We then wrote our phone number on it so people could call us if they found it," he said.
Thestudents, who spent 30 million VND (1,400 USD) on the project, avoidedflying their drone near lakes in early tests. "It can fly on adesignated route now, but we still need to use hand-held manual controlsfor take off and landing," Thien said. "I hope other students can helpperfect our design."
Demand for domestic workers in big cities ishigh and continues to grow, but the pool of labour is drawn mostly fromwomen in rural areas who have little exposure to technology,particularly the array of electronic devices increasingly common inurban homes.
So, a group of students from Hanoi EconomicsUniversity began a project to assess the capability of helpers and findout what training they needed.
Group leader Nguyen Nguyet Minhsaid, "We had to interview a large number of people before we could getan adequate sample for data analysis. This, on top of our classes andhomework, was a strain. Sometimes, we felt like giving up because manypeople refused to be interviewed."
Minh's group developed a modelfor training workers and developing a skills-based system that willmatch them with prospective employers. "We hope our project willencourage the authorities so helpers can be more professional and havestable jobs," Minh said.-VNA
Ho Phuoc Diep, Nguyen Thi Le Giang and Tran Thi Liencame up with the idea after reading an article that husks and ashcontain a high volume of silicon dioxide (SiO2), a key compound for thecreation of the liquid, or natri silicat (Na2O.nSiO2).
The glasscan be used for making waterproof paint, soap, cloth shoes and ceramics.The demand for liquid glass in Vietnam is thousands of tonnes eachyear, but current manufacturing processes involve complicated technologyfor baking white sand in a kiln heated to 1,300 degrees Celsius.
"TheSiO2 in husk and ash can easily be turned into liquid glass at muchlower temperatures, which means the price can be dramatically reduced.And as Vietnam is still an agricultural country, we have a lot of husksand ash," Diep said.
Diep said the team came across manychallenges during their experiments, from searching for relevantdocuments to designing experimental tools and finding a standardproduction process.
It took them eight months before they finallysucceeded. The students now hope to test their laboratory success on anindustrial scale.
The project was one of the outstanding worksthat won awards for Young Science Talent in 2014. The competition wasrun by the Ministries of Education and Training, and Science andTechnology, with help from the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industryand other organisations. The award aims to encourage lecturers andstudents in innovation.
Four students from the Hanoi Universityof Industry, Duong Van Thien, Pham Van Sang, Phan Van Nghiem and KieuThanh Son, won another prize for a pilotless aircraft.
Aftertwo-and-a-half years work, the students developed a drone with a rangeof one kilometre and a ceiling height of 500 metres.
It iscapable of transmitting data back to computers on the ground. Thien, thegroup's leader, said they learned from their mistakes, and lost theirdrone several times.
"We then wrote our phone number on it so people could call us if they found it," he said.
Thestudents, who spent 30 million VND (1,400 USD) on the project, avoidedflying their drone near lakes in early tests. "It can fly on adesignated route now, but we still need to use hand-held manual controlsfor take off and landing," Thien said. "I hope other students can helpperfect our design."
Demand for domestic workers in big cities ishigh and continues to grow, but the pool of labour is drawn mostly fromwomen in rural areas who have little exposure to technology,particularly the array of electronic devices increasingly common inurban homes.
So, a group of students from Hanoi EconomicsUniversity began a project to assess the capability of helpers and findout what training they needed.
Group leader Nguyen Nguyet Minhsaid, "We had to interview a large number of people before we could getan adequate sample for data analysis. This, on top of our classes andhomework, was a strain. Sometimes, we felt like giving up because manypeople refused to be interviewed."
Minh's group developed a modelfor training workers and developing a skills-based system that willmatch them with prospective employers. "We hope our project willencourage the authorities so helpers can be more professional and havestable jobs," Minh said.-VNA
