KUALA LUMPUR: Kolej Yayasan Saad emerged as champion of the 2021 National Science Challenge, winning the Prime Minister's Challenge Trophy during the Grand Final Competition which was held in October last year.
The winning team, comprising of Aariz Salimee Ilhan Salimee, Athena Siow and Gaurakishor Puvanasvaran aced the Grand Final Quiz and wowed the judges with their ingenious Grand Final Prototype: GrowBox.
GrowBox is a DIY farming kit that combines three oft-used systems in agriculture to increase crop yield and nutrition while making agriculture more accessible and sustainable for communities.
The DIY farming kit combines vertical farming, fertigation (a method of fertiliser application where the fertiliser is incorporated within the irrigation water by the drip system), and biochar (a charcoal-like material produced from plant materials that are decomposed at high temperatures).
The inception of GrowBox came from the trio's realisation of where their food comes from, and how much society relies on rural farmers to grow food.
Hence, the team sought to find a sustainable solution for this by combining agriculture's award-winning technologies into one simple and user-friendly system.
Before securing their place as the champions, Kolej Yayasan Saad and 705 other teams were tested on their scientific skills in the Preliminary Round Quiz.
This was followed by a State Level Quiz, which whittled the teams down to 79; only 20 teams advanced to the Semi Finals by September.
The 20 teams honed and harnessed their STEM knowledge to provide novel and innovative solutions to solve challenges in one of the three given tracks: Agriculture & Environment; Climate Change; and Public Health.
From this batch of 20 teams, five teams advanced to the Grand Final.
The journey for the top five teams, and Kolej Yayasan Saad in particular, was no easy task.
The trio attributed their success and confidence to their mentor teacher's unwavering support and pep talks as well as their excellent chemistry with each other.
Their journey was highlighted by the realisation of how science permeates every aspect of their lives.
The NSC is one of Academy of Sciences Malaysia's (ASM) conscious efforts to build the capacity and capability, as well as nurture and cultivate the young generation's interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
"ASM believes that we can no longer develop our talent by chance," said ASM president Professor Emerita Datuk Dr Asma Ismail.
"Instead, we must develop our talent by design by strategically formulating a transformative approach to attract our young generation's interest in STEM as well as to intensify talent development."
NSC started as a science competition where quizzes were distributed to schools across Malaysia, which was then marked by a team of dedicated staff members.
Subsequently, the quiz utilised science and technology to conduct online quizzes for its participants, vastly reducing paper usage while increasing its reach to almost all corners of the country.
Only students at the Form Four level of public secondary schools were allowed to participate at that time.
Schools (and then universities) were enlisted to assist at the state level, where physical quizzes were conducted with much fanfare and support, adding the "fun factor" to the competition.
Semi-finalists from each state were transported for a week-long science camp where they carried out pitching sessions, hands-on experiments, and prototype creation, activities which provided a glimpse into the lives of scientists.
Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic greatly reduced NSC's ability to operate on a physical capacity and the competition bade farewell to physical quizzes and the science camp.
The competition was re-engineered to be conducted fully online and expanded to include participation from public and private secondary students from Form One to Form Four.
The NSC is supported by a network of collaborators such as The Young Scientists Network-Academy of Sciences Malaysia (YSN-ASM) who provide exciting content for NSC every year.
YSN-ASM members who are experts with a diverse scientific backgrounds who come up with the questions for the quizzes and craft creative activities throughout the whole competition.
They also served as academic mentors at the later stage of the competition where they coached the students on how to direct their scientific knowledge towards solving given challenges, and to communicate their ideas effectively to an audience.
Other collaborators include the Science, Technology, and Innovation and Education Ministries and Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) who have been instrumental in sustaining the competition's longevity by sustaining the pool of competitors and promoting the STEM agenda at the school level.
NSC's long-time industry collaborator, ExxonMobil, provided a glimpse into their future on energy and sustainability as an oil-and-gas company to the participants.
In line with building innovativeness and nurturing love of STEM in youths, NSC has since expanded its catalogue of collaborators to include other industries and agencies as well.
New collaborators such as the Collaborative Research in Engineering, Science and Technology Centre (CREST) and the Malaysian Society for Microbiology were a better fit for 2021 theme of "Caring for Nature Through Science".
NSC's migration from the analogue age into the digital age was aided by SASBADI Online Sdn Bhd, NSC's long-time partner of nine years.
In addition,the Nobel Foundation also provided one of the main prizes for NSC: a trip to witness the Nobel Prize Ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden.
However, due to the current pandemic, this prize has been put on hold. It is hoped, however, that once the pandemic situation subsides, NSC can once again provide this exciting and memorable experience to the champions.
Winners Aariz, Athena and Gaura encourage their juniors and students nationwide to join the challenge.
"Don't join to win; join for science," said the trio. "We believe that in science there is no such thing as winning or losing, but only improvement."
The NSC, which is open to public, private and international secondary schools as well as home-schooled students across Malaysia, will return this year
ASM would like to invite bright and inquisitive minds from Form One to Form Four students to participate.
Keep an eye out for the 2022 National Science Challenge's registration date on Instagram @nsc_malaysia & @akademisainsmy.