Liew, Anisha and Daphne of Team Static with their principal, teacher, friends and representatives from Shell and the Ministry of Education posing for a photo.
KUCHING: Team Static from SMK Lutong, Miri was announced the national champion of Shell’s #MyGeekMovement 2020, a competition that challenges school students to work in teams to design and innovate solutions to real-world problems within the nexus of energy-food-water.
With the ‘new normal’ situation in relations to the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia, the #MyGeekMovement finals was tweaked and guided with stricter health and safety procedures as well as by leveraging the virtual environment. The judging of the #MyGeekMovement National Grand Finals 2020 was organised using online project submissions and virtual deliberations.
The wining team which comprises Anisha Praveen Karunakaran, Daphne Douglas and Liew Jia Wen came up with an invention called Chillax, which is an affordable, innovative and eco-friendly alternative to cool down a house.
Capitalising on the evaporative cooling effect, the solution consists of an automated sprinkler system supported by rainwater, solar panel, temperature sensor and water pump as well as a mobile app to monitor and control the entire system.
“We would like to thank our mentors, teachers and friends for their infinite support and help in our initiative. We put in a lot of hard work into this project but the most important thing that we have taken from this project are the skills and valuable experiences that we’ve gained throughout this journey,” shared Team Static of SMK Lutong, Miri.
According to the all-girls team, due to the Movement Control Order, they were only able to meet physically once, hence they had to meet up virtually quite frequently in order to complete their invention video. They helped each other stay on track and this ensured the successful completion of their video before the due date. Along the way, they garnered new skills in video editing and in concise presentation methods.
Six schools, two finalists each from Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak participated in the national finals after emerging state winners and runners up of the state level #MyGeek-a-thon competition. The six finalists comprised SMK Lutong, Miri from Sarawak; SM Sung Siew, Sandakan and SM St. Michael, Penampang from Sabah and SMK Aminuddin Baki, Kuala Lumpur from Peninsular Malaysia.
“In today’s world where our young generation are very much inclined towards technology, it’s imperative to nurture their interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) through creative methods. This prepares Malaysia’s students for the future job market and helps them thrive in it. In Shell, our STEM programme modules are built around Shell’s ambition to be a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050.
“Therefore, the young students in this #MyGeekMovement programme are contributing to these goals through the cultivation of creative thinking, innovation, problem solving skills and the ability to work as a team towards reaching their goals,” explained Nimmi Kamal, General Manager, External Relations, Shell Malaysia.
#MyGeekMovement provides learning content that complements the existing school co-curricular structure with a long-term goal to increase the number of students opting for science stream, while boosting interest in science and technology amongst the younger generation.
“All participants have done a great job in their inventions towards solving the food, water and energy nexus. I commend the efforts which had clearly depicts their invocation and capability in STEM.
“Students should be empowered to find better ways to convey their learning journey and this programme has been a great assistance to the government and the Education Ministry in promoting STEM.
“I wish to see many more corporations embarking on such initiatives involving more schools in the future,” shared Dr Ihsan Ismail, Head, National STEM Centre, Educational Planning and Research Division, Ministry of Education Malaysia.
This year’s judges for the national finals of #MyGeekMovement were Dr Ihsan Ismail, Head of the National Science Centre, Educational Planning and Research Division from the Ministry of Education; Dr Sumitra Nair,
Vice-President for Talent Development and Digital Entrepreneurship from Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and Wong Kim Mun, General Manager for Wells Operations from Shell.
In August 2017, Shell Malaysia introduced its STEM immersion programme called the #MyGeekMovement. With the support of the Ministry of Education, #MyGeekMovement selected about 225 secondary school students from fifteen schools across Malaysia. These students were given the opportunity to gain hands-on STEM learning, with a focus on technology.