By DayakDaily Team
KUCHING, Oct 8: The recently held 6th Sarawak Community Innovation and Engineering Convention (SCIENCE) brought together 165 students from 22 schools from Kuching, Kota Sentosa, Petra Jaya, Serian, and Batu Kitang for a showcase of innovation and collaboration.
In a media release, Sarawak Energy said through its partnership with Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation’s (SDEC) Science on Wheels outreach programme, the SCIENCE initiative has engaged over 55 primary schools and about 500 students across ten Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) communities in Sarawak before the finale from September 28 to 29 at Tropics City Kuching.
Powered by Sarawak Energy and organised by The Learning Curve, this year’s theme centred on hydropower—Sarawak’s primary renewable energy source.
“Over the two-day programme, students were tested in hands-on challenges, designing, building, and coding remote-controlled water boats, or ‘Ro-Boats’, using micro:bit kits provided by Sarawak Energy and SDEC, through its Science on Wheels rural outreach programme,” said the company.
In line with Sarawak Energy’s social investment efforts in education and young people, the annual event aims to generate interest in STEM in communities across Sarawak and is one of the Company’s flagship programmes to encourage primary and secondary students to explore STEM fields and develop their creativity and technical skills.
“Developed under its ‘powering young minds’ brand, SCIENCE has become an important event in Sarawak Energy’s calendar since it was first launched in 2018.
“SCIENCE 2024 also marked a milestone this year, with female students making up over 50 per cent of the attendees and outnumbering male participants for the first time, indicating growing interest among girls in STEM subjects,” said the media release.
St Joseph’s International School took home the championship title in the secondary school category. In the primary school category, Lodge Primary School clinched the top spot, followed by SK Tarat and SJKC Chung Hua Batu 10 as first and second runners-up, respectively.
SJKC Chung Hua Batu 35 was also awarded the Best Team by event visitors.
SCIENCE’s overall objectives are reflected in its previous editions, which have exhibited real-world applications in STEM.
In 2021, the SCIENCE programme was conducted on the Minecraft platform—adapted due to the Covid-19 pandemic—to explore engineering concepts in a virtual environment, effectively merging technology with education.
Sarawak Energy’s Vice President of Corporate Shared Services, Peing Tajang, delivered the closing remarks, and Kenneth Chai, Founder of The Learning Curve, presented the prizes to the winners of the competition at the closing ceremony.
Also present were Abdul Nazim Awang Abdul Rahman, Sarawak Energy’s Manager for Brand, Campaigns, and Sponsorship; Nicholas Wong, Executive Director of Regal Properties and venue sponsor; Vera Chin, CEO of BEE Gastronomy and WHIP EVENT; and Natasyha Evaristus, Assistant Manager at Sarawak Digital Economy Berhad. — DayakDaily
