Kyle Van de Pas
Indoor non-ice curling stone
St John's College
Year 11 Materials Technology, 30 weeks
Teacher: Steve Andrew
Asked to come up with a new activity for his students within his school environment, Kyle identified that the school gym could be used to play curling - normally an outdoor sport played on ice. This was a completely original and radical idea that meant that Kyle had to develop a new kind of curling stone - one that would behave on the gym floor as a flat stone does on ice.
Kyle first looked at the existing sport - how and where it is played, its rules and requirements, how curling stones worked and how they are manufactured.
He then researched possible ways of developing the sport to be played inside. The major issue was to get the stone to slide on a floor surface. This was overcome by developing a ball bearing system that would allow it to roll. Selection of materials was the next task. Research identified concrete to be a suitable material but needed to be modified to improve the strength characteristics of the material. Consultation with experts in this field gave Kyle information to do this. Testing was carried out to check this.
Kylie then worked out how to form the concrete in to the desired shape - by using two mixing bowls as moulds. The bearings and sleeves were first secured to the inside of the bowls and sealed to stop concrete from getting in it the bearings
When completed the concrete was covered in a black resign to give the curling stone a smooth exterior. A rubber buffer was then fitted to the outside to allow for protection of the resin and to give a surface that would allow the stones to bounce of each other.
Time constraints meant that only allowed for one stone was made.
The final testing showed that the curling stone would be slightly heavy for its intended use but Kyle had identified a way of decreasing the weight if more were 
to be manufactured.
Kyle had particularly enjoyed his Year 11 project. "It was fun, and we could work at our own pace. In technology there isn't really any competition with others in the class and you had more control of things yourself than you had in other subjects."
Teacher comment
From a teaching perspective, this was an example of an excellent materials technology project and practice. It made Kyle investigate and work with a number of unfamiliar materials and also to incorporate a selection of materials to achieve his desired outcome. The project allowed for in-depth testing and decision-making.
