GEORGE TOWN – As the Penang International Science Fair (PISF) goes into full swing, 5,600 participating students in the state are getting first-hand experience in the science and technology field from 560 mentors across 26 companies in the industry.
The fair kick-started last Saturday after 18 types of learning kits designed according to a specific theme was delivered to various schools and students.
Inside the learning kits sponsored by the various companies are components for various projects that will be completed under the supervision of mentors via online platforms.
Chief executive officer (CEO) of Penang Science Cluster (PSC), Ooi Peng Ee, told The Vibes that it has always been the aim of PSC to get the industries to participate in educating students. Those who have completed learning kits from last year’s programme are enrolled to take part in the science competition this year where they get to showcase their projects.
“During these mentoring sessions, an engineer who leads a group of ten students will get to teach, interact and answer questions posed by them. From here students get to learn and build it and then get to see their creations come alive. They also get to keep the parts and reuse them to build other things.
“When we organise this science fair, we had a two-fold purpose. The first is for students to build and share their creations so it will, in return, inspire other students to innovate or take on similar projects.
"Secondly, we want the industry to come and share their technology, to educate the students about the science and technology behind their products and the innovations so they know there is a lot of high tech equipment and innovation happening in Penang.
“We want to inspire them to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) in the future,” he said. Though STEM is crucial in an industrial-forward state of Penang, Ooi also believes that teaching STEM must also be intertwined with entrepreneurship so they will be able to market innovation.
With Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0), Ooi believes that equipping students with industrial skills may help curb brain drain as the market is going online and is no longer connected to geographical location.
“You can create software applications and put them up on the app store or play store. The world is your market now and we hope to inspire some of these students to take that path.
“At PSC, it's not just about interest in Science and Technology, but we also want to focus on innovative and entrepreneur-thinking as it encompasses the ability to identify problems, to envision a solution and to identify business opportunities. Even as an employee, you will want that kind of people.
“For those who want to start on their own, we would encourage them to do it. Plus the Penang state government has a seed fund to provide a certain level of funding for people who want to start a start-up. And if indeed, they need a bigger capital, there are venture capitalists and we, in PSC as partners, can link them up with all these people.
"I am certainly hopeful that our students will be up to the challenge,” he said.
Though PSC, 100 MakerLabs have also been established in Penang schools, a far higher than the total number of school maker spaces in all the states in Malaysia. There are currently only a total of 20 maker spaces in the country outside Penang.
An initiative by PSC in 2017, each MakerLabs can range from RM28,000 to RM56,000 and includes equipment that will expose students to 21st-century skills like pro-coding, hardware building, systems building, smart systems, 3D printing and more. The students are then encouraged to create solutions for everyday problems.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the usual physical event held over one weekend at Setia Spice has been moved online with students participating either in schools or at home. This year’s PISF entitled “Inspiring Innovation” is a collaboration between the Penang State Government and the industries that form the backbone of the PSC. It will run until December 5. – The Vibes, November 26, 2021
