Published on: 25 July 2024



Year 9 student Darius Choo returned last week from Budapest, Hungary, where he represented Australia in a team with other students in the 2024 International Young Physicists’ Tournament.

Darius qualified for the National team earlier this year, after he was a finalist in the Fame Lab Academy Competition at Curtin University with his presentation on Projectile Motion, as seen in this video.

Senior School Physics Teacher Nick Sumich accompanied the team as team leader and coach, alongside Darius’ father, and commented on the experience. “It was a great trip! Our team was younger than the other countries – we had one Year 9, Year 10s, a Year 11 and a Year 12, and they rose to the challenge. We came third in Fight 1 against Brazil and Serbia, which was a bit disappointing for the team but they weren’t too far behind which was good. The second fight against Austria and Iran was a bit more balanced, and the team took out first place – a fraction behind Austria. In Fight 3 against Italy and Chinese Taipei, the team came a close second, Fight 4 against Ukraine, Greece and Mexico resulted in third place, and Fight 5 against Sweden and Poland saw the team come in second place.”

Mr Sumich also expressed that Darius did a fantastic job as team lead when Australia were the opposing team on the topic of ‘Ping Pong Rocket’.

Head of Science Megan Caporn was thrilled with Darius’ and the team’s collective efforts, adding “it’s very impressive for a Year 9 student to be representing Australia in this competition!”

Overall, team Australia placed 15th of 38 countries, and was awarded a bronze medal for placing in the top 50 per cent of the competing teams. This was the best performance by an Australian team since 2013. You can see the team receive their medals on the event livestream link here.

Pictured left to right: Darius in a Science class with Ms Caporn, Darius leading team Australia in the IYPT tournament in Fight 4 on the topic of ‘Ping Pong Rocket’.