ONE FOR THE ALBUM: (From left) Prof Ashwani K. Gupta, Anilkumar, Marcus, Prof Essam E Khalil and Tiong in a photo call at the 5th Apec Future Scientist Conference in South Korea recently.
NEW FRIENDS: Anilkumar (left) and Tiong (second left) posing for a picture with two foreign AFSC participants.
MIRI: Two Form 5 students of SMK Lutong made the country proud recently when they were selected to attend the `5th APEC Future Scientist Conference (AFSC)’ in Kyungnam University, Gyeongnam Province, South Korea.
Anilkumar Mailvaganam and Bryan Tiong Yong Jie were accompanied by SMKL principal Marcus Hugo Matu Lejau to the conference that was held from July 22 to 26.
Themed `Energy for the Future’, the event was organised by the APEC Mentoring Centre for gifted science students to enhance human capacity and to build a network for scientists and the gifted.
“To qualify for the AFSC, each student was assigned a leading scientist who then guided him/her to produce 12 research papers. This was from October 2012 to January this year.
“Anilkumar was mentored by Professor Essam E. Khalil from Egypt, and Tiong by Professor Ashwani K. Gupta from the United States of America,” beamed Marcus Hugo.
Other participants at the conference were from Brunei Darussalam, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Russia, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, USA, Vietnam and Egypt. Activities held during the five-day conference included poster presentations based on research carried out from October 2012 to January 2013.
The theme for group projects was `Robotics’. Each team had to plan and produce a functional machine that is able to assist humans.
Another group team projects involved a concentrated solar cells experiment. The participants had to focus sunlight by using a flat but concave lens onto concentrated solar cells, and record the voltage and current readings at certain intervals.
“Both Anilkumar and Tiong won silver medals for their respective team projects presented during the conference,” said Marcus.
Another highlight at the prestigious gathering was the `Cultural Night’. Students from all participating countries entertained the international crowd with cultural performances.
Anikkumar and Tiong mesmerised the audience with their rendition of an Orang Ulu traditional dance.
On the final day, the participants were taken on excursions around Brusan city. The places of interests they visited included the Gimhae National Museum, the Gimhae Art Centre and Clayarch Gimhae Museum.
Marcus said this was the third time that the school had sent a team to the APEC Future Scientist Conference.
“In 2012, Jap Xin Yi and Kho Boon Kie won in the `Best Presentation Skill’ and `Research Poster Presentation’ categories in the 4th AFSC.”
He said the experience gained from preparing and attending such an international conference had opened the minds of gifted students. It had also given them an enormous motivation to contribute to the development of science and technology in their respective countries.