On Wednesday, 16th August 2023, UTM staff and students were invited as STEM exhibitors to SMK (P) CONVENT PEEL ROAD’S STEM CARNIVAL by the Teachers and Parent Teachers Association (PTA). It was held in their school with the participation of Forms 1 to 5 students of about 700 students. Besides having set up our computer with the UTM OTEC Virtual Reality 360-degree virtual lab tour of the mini OTEC simulator, a simple electrolysis system was set up for the students to try out a fun experiment that introduced elementary concepts of physics and chemistry.

The simple electrolysis system was set up with copper and magnesium plates (as electrodes), and the students got to explore and try to light up LEDs and hear the sound of a buzzer by conducting the experiment.
Other than that, UTM OTEC also brought along Hand Boilers, which are looped and twisted glass sculptures containing Methylene Chloride as a working fluid. The heat from our bare hands evaporates the liquid, moving up the twisted tubes. This demonstrates Charles’s Law and Vapor-Liquid Equilibrium.

The students showcased models and prototypes for all the guests, and there was a prize-giving ceremony for them at the end. Some Year 5 pupils were tasked with being little entrepreneurs for the day and set up stalls selling drinks and snacks.

Besides UTM OTEC, there were exhibitors from the Institute of Noise & Vibration, Razak Faculty of Technology and Informatics, Malaysia Japan International Institute of Technology from UTM that brought futuristic Al, paper plane competition, and drones, respectively, for the students to check out which most found so incredible. This is a step in the right direction for creating interest in STEM education.