KUCHING – ‘The Smart e-Saver’ team from Tunku Putra School claimed the top gold prize of the recently concluded Young Innovators Challenge (YIC) Sarawak, winning the hearts of judges with their project that focuses on saving young lives.
Hosted by Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus (Swinburne Sarawak), the team comprising Joseph Chung Ming Chong, Kelly Chong Kai Xuan and Thomas Brabbs successfully defeated 65 teams from 22 secondary schools in the southern region of Sarawak. The team was mentored by Swinburne Sarawak’s student Ericson Tan Peng Hong and supervised by their school teacher Bong Poh Kwong.
Other gold prize winners include team ‘DNAwesome’ of SMK Tun Abang Haji Openg, ‘D Bois’ of Lodge International School and ‘Lion and Unicorn’ of SMK Datuk Patinggi Haji Abdul Gapor. Additionally, there were seven winners and 11 winners for the silver and bronze category respectively.
With the chosen theme automotive/mobility, the ‘Smart e-Saver’ project is inspired by an accident commonly known as hot car death or forgotten baby syndrome, referring to accidentally leaving a baby or young child in a locked car resulting in death due to heatstroke or suffocation.
The students have developed a device called the ‘Smart e-Saver’ where thermal and pressure sensors are able to detect the amount of passengers present in the car. An ultrasonic sensor above the passenger’s head will calculate the body height of the passenger that will determine whether the passenger is under the age of six. Once a car carrying a child reaches the destination and the driver turns off the engine, the ‘Smart e-Saver’ will enable an alarm to go off with the warning “Children in the car!”.
If the child in still unattended after five minutes, the device will send a message to alert the driver and the family of the child. After fifteen minutes without response, the device will send the GPS location and report to the police.
Moving forward, the four gold prize winners will submit individual five-minute pitching videos that will touch on the problem statement, solution, demonstration of the project as well as other relevant information that will enable their pitch to stand. Only 15 teams from throughout Malaysia will be eligible to take part in the National Accelerator Camp in Kuala Lumpur to be held from 24 to 30 September 2018.
Group photo of participants, teachers, mentors, sponsors and organisers of YIC Sarawak Southern Zone.
According to Swinburne Sarawak’s Deputy Head of School of Engineering and event Chairperson Dr Chua Hong Siang, he is pleased that the YIC has gained more interest this year as only 40 teams from 14 schools participated in 2017.
“I believe the Train-The-Trainer (TTT) session held in April for school teachers led to this higher participation as well as higher completion rate of projects. Moreover, there were more working prototypes produced compared to previous years. Having said this, I hope the competition can attract more schools in the following years so we can spread the importance of STEM far and wide,” said Dr Chua.
Swinburne Sarawak’s students played a big role in the competition where 22 of them shared their technical know-how and support as mentors to the participating schools. These students were part of the TTT session where each mentor assigned to a school worked hand in hand with the school teachers to mentor the students throughout a period of three months.
The annual innovation competition is open to secondary school students between 13 and 17-year old from public, private and international schools in Malaysia where it aims to ignite the passion for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).
The competition is jointly organised by Yayasan Sime Darby and Chumbaka with Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) as its strategic partner, and supported by the Ministry of Education Malaysia. Tabung Ekonomi Gagasan Anak Bumiputera Sarawak (TEGAS) and Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Research Sarawak were joint sponsors of the Sarawak state level competition.
Swinburne Sarawak’s global rankings, high graduate employment rates and location in the city centre makes the university a top choice for students from around the world interested in obtaining an Australian degree at a fraction of the cost. The courses at the Sarawak campus are undifferentiated from the Melbourne campus and students who complete their degrees here receive the same testamur.
For more information about Swinburne Sarawak, visit the university’s website (www.swinburne.edu.my), Facebook page (@swinburnesarawak), Instagram (@swinburnesarawak), Twitter page (@Swinburne_Swk) or YouTube channel (Swinburne Sarawak).