JOHOR BAHRU, 1 October 2016 – Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Puteri Wangsa took home a cash prize of RM1, 000.00, a trophy and a certificate of excellence when it emerged as Champion of Johor Young Innovate 2016 competition which was held at the Dewan Sultan Iskandar, UTM Johor Bahru campus on 24 September 2016.
The participants from SMK Puteri Wangsa invented a Farming Box, a project which provides irrigation and lighting solutions automatically to domestic operators and commercial crops. The team coached by Mentor Teacher Tan Jiun Wen also exhibited the composition of a design mirror which provides a simple solution to the user.
The second place was won by SMK Bandar Uda Utama with Smart Scarecrow innovation projects followed by third place which was won by SMK Sultan Ismail with their Smart Pot project. Finally in fourth place was the Auto Fish Feeder invention from SMK Ulu Tiram.
The second prize, third and fourth respectively were cash money prizes of RM750, RM500, RM250 and a trophy while the fourth place winners were invited to showcase their innovative products in conjunction with the Johor Entrepreneurship Program and Innovation Day (JEnID) 2016 which will be held at the Dewan Sultan Iskandar on 4 to 6 October 2016.
The Johor Young Innovate Competition was inaugurated by the official representative of the Johor State Education Department, Mustafa Ibrahim. Among the attendees were the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic and International) Prof Dr Rose Alinda Alias, Programme Advisor Associate Prof. Dr. Mohd Zaidi Abd Rozan, Director UTMTEC Prof. Dr. Kamariah Ismail, Programme Chairman Chai Boon Swee and Dreamcatcher Sdn Bhd representatives, Dr Chew Yen Seng and Yap Kam Seng.
In her welcoming address, Prof. Rose Alinda emphasised the concept of 21st Century Education, which is now more project-based learning, using lifelong learning skills and the need to improve the inventor among students.
A total of 511 people participated in this programme which consists of 386 high school students, 35 teachers, 60 crew, 30 mentors, 104 groups from 32 schools involved. Parents of students were also present.
Mohd Zaidi, who is also UTMTEC manager, said Young Innovate is unique because it involves cooperation between the Johor State Education Department, District Education Office, schools, the industry (Dreamcatcher) and UTM.
“It took six months involving 25 UTM students who have become mentors to students to provide guidance on the Arduino Embedded Systems (Embedded System) in the schools involved.
“Three main phases have been designed in the last six months of the phase to identify and train the students of UTM as mentors from March to May 2016. The phase recommended ” Boot Camp “and” Mentoring ” in schools that were interested between June and September 2016, ” he said.
He said the final phase of the competition at the state level on 24 September 2016, in which the three main winners were selected to compete at the national level on 4 to 6 November 2016 at the Mines International Exhibition and Conference Centre (MIECC), Selangor.
According to him, they have been receiving feedback from the schools where the students had the inspiration and passion in the field of Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (STEM), which managed to develop problem-solving skills, critical thinking, and collaboration stoicism.
In addition, the students managed to inspire lifelong learning through exposure to open source software and hardware, improving the courage and confidence to their own students.
UTM wishes to say a big thank you to the sponsors iM4U, MDeC, UTM, UTM PRIMELab, Gates IT Sdn Bhd, G & G Desert Products Sdn Bhd, Tok Ayah Food Industries Sdn Bhd and Thinkerspace for contributions given for the success of the programme.
