IYPT

The Swiss Team will arrive in Zurich (Arrival 2) at 20:55 today. Come and greet the gold medal team! 

The day of the final. The Swiss were right in the middle. Nervous, but well prepared they made their way to the university to give their best in the final. Before, they had never presented in front of such a large audience.

For Switzerland the final started with Zara’s opposition to problem number 15, Contactless Calliper. Chinese Taipei’s report was rater weak for a final. Zara criticized Chinese Tapei for their limited experimental and theoretical investigation. Her opposition received 7.22 solid points. One has to mention that this was her first time on stage at the IYPT, doing this on such a large stage and succeeding is a huge achievement.

Afterwards it was time for Kathrin’s report. For the second time she presented problem number 6, Electric Honeycomb. In the preliminary round she had already demonstrated that her theoretical and experimental investigation of the phenomenon was of high quality. Germany’s opposition appreciated her experimental investigation, but expressed criticism for her theory. The opponent did not fully comprehend the derivation. With her report Kathrin received 7.22 points for the Swiss team.

After Switzerland was the observer for one round it was time for the review. Singapore presented problem number 2, Lagging Pendulum. The presentation was sensational. Measurements and theory were on point. Therefore, Émilie had a hard task with the review. She faced the challenge and received 6.94 points.

See the award ceremony on YouTube:

See the Swiss Team oin the Final via YouTube: https://youtu.be/Jctjt71nc5E.

With very realistic chance to make it into the final the Swiss Team went into the last fight. There is no challenge in the last fight according to the new regulations. The team are allowed to choose their report, in order to allow them to be able to present their best report at the tournament.

The fight started with an opposition for Switzerland. Georgia’s report to problem number 5, Ultrahydrophobic Water, to which Joonas did his opposition, was rather weak. Repetitively Joonas had demonstrated his excellent understanding of the phenomenon and was able to convince the jury of this. With 6.7 points this was a rater weak opposition for Joonas, but still a solid performance.

After the opposition it was time for the Report. Émilie was ready to present her results to problem number 10, Light Rings. The problem concerns rings of light visible on a water jet, if the contact point of the water jet and the surface is illuminated by a laser beam. Due to the strong criticism from the Jury, Émilie only received 5.9 points. Even though this was one Switzerland’s weaker reports, it is still very strong in comparison to the other to the other teams.

In the review team captain Marc secured Switzerland’s place in the final; receiving 6.3 points for his review to problem number 12, Van der Pauw Method.

The weather did not cooperate with us on the day of the fourth fight in Ekaterinburg. In the rain and through streets characterized through huge puddles the team made its way to the Ural Federal University, the venue of the IYPT.

In a fight of four the report was Switzerland’s first task. Sweden challenged the team to problem number 5; Ultrahydrophobic Water. Once again it was Joonas’ time to shine. Standing in front of the jury confidently, they were immediately convinced of his theory about the small droplet; scoring 7.5 points.

After a well-deserved break as observer, it was Switzerland’s turn to review problem number 8, Magnetic Train. It was the captain’s, Marc’s, turn to review a very theoretical report and discussion by Croatia and Slovakia. Marc secured the team 7 points, putting them into a good position to win the fight.

In Switzerland’s last challenge Marc challenged Slovakia to problem number 10, Light Rings. Émilie was ready for her first opposition. With the opponent she discussed the relevance of the water jet dynamics, which he largely ignored in his report. With another 6.38 points in the discussion, Switzerland’s future at the IYPT is bright.

After this strong fight, Switzerland keeps its third place and is more than 10 points ahead of the fourth place. A place in the final is not secure yet, but it is very realistic. In the fifth fight problem number 10, Light Rings, will be presented.