AN AFTER-SCHOOL idea by three Sarawakian pupils to create a device that would ensure their safety and security, as well as that of their peers, won them the gold medal at the Bangkok International Intellectual Property, Invention, Innovation and Technology Exposition (IPITEX 2020) recently.
Twelve-year-old Ling Guan Yee and her sister, Yan Ru, 9, of SK St Anthony (M) Bintulu; and Nathanael Lim Yee Ning, 10, of SJKC Kai Ming in Bintulu emerged victorious for their invention called “B-Beep”.
The trio beat over 1,200 competitors from the United Kingdom, Canada, South Korea, Laos, Hong Kong, China, Romania, India, Indonesia and more.
The champions also earned the Young Innovator Award from Singapore-based Citizen Innovation, in recognition of their creativity, Bernama reported.
They have described B-Beep as a Bluetooth pager device that functions to enhance the safety and security of schoolchildren.
The lightweight and simple B-Beep, created using BBC micro: bit – an ARM-based embedded hardware system designed by the BBC – is a portable device that can be connected to the handphones of parents through Bluetooth, via an application which is able to track their children.
Guan Yee and Yan Ru said the idea of creating B-Beep came when they were waiting for their father to pick them up from school.
“B-Beep can prevent children from being kidnapped, cut waiting time for parents and reduce traffic congestion at roads surrounding schools,” Guan Yee told Bernama.
The sisters’ mother, Lee Siau Ken, who is also a teacher, said B-Beep is an alternative device, as handphones are barred in schools.
She said B-Beep enables parents to alert and communicate with children through a buzzer which announces their estimated time of arrival and which gate their children are to be picked up from at school.
Malaysia’s main representatives to the IPITEX 2020 – the Malaysian Invention and Design Society (MINDS) and the Malaysian Research and Innovation Society (MyRIS) – won 32 gold, 68 silver and 74 bronze medals in the annual exposition.
IPITEX 2020 was held to mark Thailand’s Inventors’ Day on Feb 2.