TRURO, NS — (May 22, 2007) Haley Robinson, a Grade 11 student from La Ronge, Saskatchewan, has won a $4000 Manning Young Canadian Innovation Award for her Canada-Wide Science Fair project on solar water-pasteurization. For her project "Sanitary Sunshine Phase Two," Robinson designed, built and tested three pasteurizers that heat and decontaminate water with solar energy.

Solar water-pasteurization could be of great value to the 1.1 billion people worldwide who lack safe drinking water. Robinson was able to create a particularly efficient pasteurizer using simple, no-cost materials, such as plastic bags and a black painted bottle.

Her work is timely, 2005-2015 being the United Nations' International Decade for Action, "Water For Life." Among other awards, her project was recognized with the Canadian Commission for UNESCO - Science for Peace and Development Travel Award and $1000 CSSE Engineering Innovation Award.

Robinson was among the approximately 25,000 young Canadians in Grades 7 though 12 who earlier this year competed in regional science fairs across the country. Of these students, 459 Finalists gathered at the 2007 Canada-Wide Science Fair, held in the Colchester County of Nova Scotia from May 12-20^th. The annual fair is the showcase event of Youth Science Foundation Canada.

The Ernest C. Manning Awards Foundation introduced the Young Canadian Program in 1992 to recognize innovative Canada-Wide Science Fair projects. Each year a judging team selects eight winning projects for the $500 Manning Innovation Achievement Awards, which are presented at the science fair awards ceremony. Out of these projects, another four are selected for the $4000 Manning Young Canadian Innovation Awards. The top four award winners also receive invitations to the Foundation's annual awards dinner and ceremony.

Contact:
Bruce Fenwick
Executive Director, Ernest C. Manning Awards Foundation
Phone: 403-645-8277
Email: bruce.fenwick@encana.com

Lori Murray
Youth Science Foundation Canada
Phone: (Toll free) 866-341-0040 ext. 3
Email: communications@ysf-fsj.ca