Judges say the standard of work displayed at an annual secondary school science competition was the best it has ever been.
Jake Martin, 17, of Cambridge High School was the supreme winner at Te Papa on Monday night, picking up prize money totalling $11,000 for work on turning wood power into electricity.
Other students in the Realise the Dream competition produced research on a variety of topics: toxicology, the weta, robotics and oxidised metals.
One prize winner applied scientific research to popular mythology, working out scientifically just how accurately a modern archer can shoot an arrow.
Another looked at the effect of exercise on people's ability to remember.
