KUALA LUMPUR – A group of students from SMK (A) Kuala Selangor made the country proud when they defeated 490 teams from 250 schools around the globe in a competition held in conjunction with the International Trade Fair for Ideas, Inventions, and New Products (IENA) 2022 in Nuremberg, Germany yesterday.
The Malaysian team won gold and the special award for the Best Overall Innovation Product in the Young Inventors Category “Prize of the City of Nuremberg” in the three-day competition that began on Thursday (October 27).
The team comprised four students namely Athirah Ahmad Hisshamuddin, 17; Raja Dhia Nazneen Insyirah Raja Mohd Aman Shah, Nur Damia Bisyara Muhammad Imran, and Sarah Ardinie Khairul Faizi, all aged 16.
With the guidance of experienced teachers Mohd Ridzuan Mohammad and Mohd Zulhelmi Mansor, the team repeated the success of their seniors who had won gold and the best innovation product award in IENA 2019.
When contacted, Zulhelmi said the team featured their innovation, the Educational Card Set (ECS) World History Exploration Challenge, which was specially designed to attract the interest of all groups – especially teenagers – to master general knowledge related to the history of world civilisation.
He said their idea, inspired by the Monopoly board game, was transformed into the ECS that highlights interesting heritage sites of world civilisation.
“So the concept of taking photographs and recording interesting events are highlighted in the board game. This allows two-way interaction and encourages discussion among students playing the ECS,” he added.
Zulhelmi hoped that the ECS product will be used in competitions among schools and be made available to each family in the country, in addition to creating a “global citizenship” generation.
IENA is the world’s longest-established innovation exhibition of more than 70 years, and showcases the world’s biggest new inventions and innovations. – Bernama, October 30, 2022