KOTA KINABALU: Secondary school students around the state capital showcased their creativity and technical knowledge in a coding programme organised by Yayasan Petronas recently.
They were part of the Powering Knowledge – Yayasan Petronas Coding4All (YPC4All) programme, which encourages students to use creativity, science, and technology to solve specific problems.
The 60 students from SMK St Peter Telipok and SMK Perempuan Likas were given the opportunity to present their inventions and ideas on Aug 4.
Among them were motion detection sensors to help farmers prevent cattle theft, to a nifty smart window that opens and closes automatically, using an application that syncs with local weather forecasts.
These students presented these ideas to a panel of judges, where the automated sensing window was later named one of the few winners of the competition.
Mohammad Aman Shah, 14, a participant who was part of the smart window application team from SMK St Peter Telipok shared how the idea of this invention came about.
He said they realised that simple things like this were useful and able to reach almost every family who lives in a house.
He said the intention was to help people have a peace of mind when they were out of their houses and have left their windows open, and they did not have to worry about their houses getting wet when it suddenly rains, for example.
On the coding programme itself, Mohammad said apart from learning to code, the year-long programme has helped him better understand the importance of group work and communication in their projects.
In pitching these solutions to the judging panel, they applied the 4Cs - critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity - skills that are essential for students to thrive and succeed in the future.
The programme was organised by Yayasan Petronas in collaboration with the Education Ministry through its Bahagian Pengurusan Sekolah Harian, and Petrosains as the implementation partner.
Chief Executive Officer of Yayasan Petronas, Shariah Nelly Francis, said students were exposed to the introduction of technology that was part of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR4.0) initiative.
It served as an initial preparation for them to understand and cultivate interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education, as career opportunities in this field are growing rapidly, she said.
She said the programme started in July 2022 until August 2023, involved 35 trainers and a target of 210 Form One students from seven schools.
The schools were SMK Impian Emas, Johor; SMK Bandar Uda Utama, Johor; SMK Tan Sri Mohamed Rahmat, Johor; SM St. Peter Telipok, Sabah; SMK Perempuan Likas, Sabah; SMK Bandar Samariang, Sarawak; and SMK Pending, Sarawak.
"The finale event served as a platform for participants to practice the 4Cs learned from the programme and showcase the results," Shariah said.
"Additionally, there was also a session for them to interact with their STEM Idol, providing them with the opportunity to gain insights and knowledge on careers in STEM," she added.
