Randall scoops young lecture award

Smooth talker: Dr Dyllon Randall, runner-up in the Young Persons' World Lecture Competition.

Clarity, enthusiasm and a bit of spontaneity are presentation essentials. Enter Dr Dyllon Randall of UCT's Department of Chemical Engineering, runner-up in the Young Persons' World Lecture Competition, held in Brazil this year.

Hosted by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining since 2005, the competition attracts the world's brainiest under-28s in materials engineering, testing them on the structure of their lecture, clarity of explanation and argument, and calmness and competence in handling judges' questions.

Randall's winning lecture, Pass the Salt - Recovery of water and salts from mining brines using eutectic freeze crystallization, was based on the results of his PhD research on recovering salts and water from toxic mine water.

Although he was obviously outstanding in his presentation, there were a few butterflies.

"I still get nervous during such events, but the trick is to try and hide this from the audience," he said. His top tip? Practice as many times as you can beforehand.

It's not only his presentation skills that counted, but the content of his work, too.

"I'm very excited that my PhD research is receiving so much favourable attention. I believe this research will have an important part to play in obtaining sustainable wastewater treatment solutions."

Last year, Randall's doctoral work on eutectic freeze crystallisation won him the Biennal Award of the Industrial Water Division of Water Institute of South Africa/South African Industrial Water Association.