Incredible feat: (From left) Jamie, Nor Maisarah, Ke Xin and Khairulaniza receiving the RM5,000 mock cheque from Chang as Perak PKR vice-chairman Tan Kar Hing looks on during the incentive presentation ceremony in Ipoh. — RONNIE CHIN/The Star
IPOH: An award-winning invention by a team of 17-year-old schoolgirls is in the midst of being patented.
Their smart precision farming system that automatically waters seedlings in eco-friendly and degradable pots won a gold medal at the Youth International Science Fair in Bali, Indonesia, last month.
SMK Seri Teja’s “Teja Innovation Team’’, which consists of Lee Ke Xin, Nor Maisarah Ahmad Nizam and Jamie Yap Pei Tian, were among 23 out of 43 participating teams from various countries that won a gold medal in the Secondary Level Engineering category during the fair that was held from March 8-12.
They also won the Indonesian Young Scientist Association Special Award for their project, named Savase.
Nor Maisarah said the system consisted of two components, the automatic watering system and the eco-friendly seedling pots.
She said pots were made from fruit peels and newspapers while the watering system could also run batteries.
“The pots can replace polybags, which can affect the environment,” she said.
Lee said the automatic watering system was programmed using the “BBC micro:bit” pocket-sized computer to detect moisture levels in the soil.
“If the soil is wet, a smiley face will appear on the micro:bit’s LED light display. If the soil is dry, a frown will appear along with a beep to alert the user,” she said.
Lee said they had been planning their project since last July.
“After a few trials and improvements, we completed it in December,” she said, adding that Savase was in the process of being patented.
“Our inspiration came about after learning that not many people are interested in farming. With such a system, we could encourage them to do a little gardening,” she said.
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Chang Lih Kang presented a mock cheque for RM5,000 to SMK Seri Teja principal Khairulaniza Khairuddin for the team’s achievement at an incentive presentation ceremony here on Friday.
In congratulating the schoolgirls, Chang said he hoped more schools could also focus on science, technology and innovation programmes.
“SMK Seri Teja’s achievement is in line with the ministry’s aim and wish for Malaysia to be a high-tech nation by 2030,” he said.
“I am confident that if all schools were to take the same path as SMK Seri Teja, our target can be achieved before 2030.”
Besides SMK Seri Teja, SMK Padang Berampah in Sabah, and Kolej Genius Insan in Negri Sembilan, also won gold medals at the Bali event, while SMK Kubang Bemban in Kelantan, picked up a bronze medal.
A total of 673 teams from primary and secondary schools as well as tertiary institutions from 23 countries took part in the fair, including the host country, Turkiye, Vietnam, Thailand, South Korea, the United States, Romania and the United Arab Emirates.
Meanwhile, Chang said the ministry can help institutions and students with innovations that could potentially be commercialised to register their intellectual property.
He said his ministry welcomes more innovation from the people, especially the younger generation, so that the country can become a technology producer by 2030.
“We have two flagship programmes, namely the National Science Week and Malaysia Techlympics, which started last year, to encourage youth to be involved in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and innovation.
“There are a lot of interesting ideas from youth, which I think is important for the country.
“If their ideas can be commercialised, the ministry will help them register their intellectual property,” he added.
