KUCHING, Jan 8: SMK Tiong Hin Sibu is among three schools to win the Sime Darby Young Innovators Challenge (SDYIC) National Camp 2020 hosted virtually by Yayasan Sime Darby (YSD) with their innovation of “Traffic Controller Safety Vest”.
According to a media release, the three teams clinched an innovation grant of RM20,000 each at the SDYIC Grand Finale held in Kuala Lumpur recently.
Themed “Help A Person, Change the World” this year, the SDYIC provided a unique opportunity for the teams to further refine their prototypes by working with targeted communities for one year to implement their inventions in the real world. These prototypes aim to address community issues and challenges.
SMK Tiong Hin team impressed judges with the innovative traffic controller safety vest for school crossing guards to better communicate clear and understandable signals, thereby reducing pedestrian accidents within school zones.
The two other winners are SMK Indahpura (1) from Kulai, Johor with their prototype called “SOP Management Device” and SMK Mulong from Kota Bharu, Kelantan with its “Smart Height Measurer” innovation.
The three teams will have a year to further develop their prototypes before the implementation process.
With this year’s theme, YSD governing council member Dato Jeffri Salim Davidson pointed out that they aim to encourage youths to become caring citizens who are connected to their surroundings and communities.
“This year’s SDYIC participants were empowered to devise prototypes that would help solve real-life problems for the community.
“It’s been a delight to witness such talent and creativity in these students as they worked to create innovative tools that could help their communities. No matter your age, you have within you the ability to invent solutions that could make a difference to society.
“This is the message that we wish to send through with SDYIC. As in previous years, Yayasan Sime Darby will work with the recipients of the 2020 innovation grant to further develop their ideas into viable solutions,” he said.
This year, a total of 1,581 students comprising 610 teams from 406 schools nationwide had participated in the SDYIC which began as an online state-level competition nationwide.
Out of the total number of participating teams, 15 finalists were selected to compete at the national level, participating in the SDYIC 2020 National Camp which was also held virtually.
Jeffri informed that this year’s competition also saw a 12 per cent increase in the participation of rural schools, with 8 out of the 15 finalist teams coming from rural areas.
“We were also pleased to see that the participation of female students has maintained at about 40 per cent, although we do hope to see an increase in female students showcasing their innovative talents in future SDYIC national championships,” he added.
At this year’s camp, SDYIC also recognised three other teams who merited special mentions namely SMK Kubang Kerian which received the Favourite Innovation Award for a sound deterrent prototype for effective agricultural pest control.
SMK Aminuddin Baki from Kuala Lumpur with its prototype “Waste Me Not” to prevent food wastage by using inventory control and SMK Jit Sin from Bukit Mertajam, Pulau Pinang with its vision control invention to protect children from computer vision syndrome won the Best Presenter Awards. The two schools were awarded book vouchers worth RM300 each.
The SDYIC is a collaboration with a social business start-up, Chumbaka Sdn Bhd (Chumbaka), a training provider, approved by the Ministry of Education (MOE) and endorsed by the Malaysian Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC).
It is an initiative for YSD and Chumbaka to provide STEM training in schools across the nation and to transform Malaysian youth from digital users to producers in the digital economy.
To date, the foundation has committed over RM4.28 million to SDYIC under its Education pillar. The programme has reached out to 11,438 secondary school students, undergraduate students, school teachers and Sime Darby Innovation Officers in collaboration with Chumbaka, state education departments, and partnering universities to realise this mission. -DayakDaily
