Our journey to Seoul

Hi everyone! We are Beatrice, Gao Jie, Jia Huey & Priscilla!  

This year, we had the opportunity to participate in the NXplorers 2019 programme co-organised by Shell and Science Centre Singapore. 

We kicked off the project by conducting extensive online research and reading up about the plight of villagers living in rural parts of the world. We empathised with these villagers and decided to brainstorm for solutions which would solve problems such as energy, food and water shortages that were commonly experienced in these places.

Brainstorming a solution to Energy, Food and Water shortages in rural areas

Sharing our ideas with our peers and mentors

As a team, we came up with a two-part solution to address the energy, food and water issues we identified.

ENERGY - In order to enhance energy supply in rural areas, we proposed harvesting renewable energy like solar energy. Our self-monitoring smart solar system is able to make intelligent adjustments to maximise the electrical output and provide feedback to users when there is a fault. 

FOOD & WATER - In order to improve crop yields, we proposed increasing water supply to farm lands. By utilising a super-absorbent polymer made from biodegradable orange and avocado peels, the polymer would be able to store excess water during wet seasons and release stored water to the crops when the soil is too dry during dry seasons. 

We presented our proposed solutions to a panel of engineers at Shell and educators at Science Centre Singapore and were overjoyed that our proposal was selected as one of the top 5 in Singapore!

We made it to the Top 5!

As top 5, we were also given the opportunity to go on a learning journey to Pacific Light company at Jurong Island. It was truly an eye-opener which gave us greater insight into how cutting-edge technologies are applied in the real world and scaled up to meet the ever-increasing demands for energy and water. The learning journey was pivotal in kindling our motivation to work hard on our project! 

We then began to develop our prototype and had the privilege of consulting our mentors from Science Centre Singapore and Shell who shared their expertise with us. We spent days purchasing parts, building and troubleshooting the components that would bring our ideas to life. 

We designed and built a working prototype to tell our story

One of the most challenging parts was coding the Arduino microprocessor to get the automated system working but we used our skills acquired during Sec 2 ALP lessons and managed to make it work!

 

Finally, on the day of the finals, we were really nervous but we gained confidence as we presented our ideas to our school leaders, teachers, friends and members of the public. 

Working together to present to the judges

When it was our turn to be judged by an esteemed panel of judges, we were able to explain clearly and confidently how our proposed solution would help people living in rural parts of the world to tackle energy, food and water issues. 

We anxiously awaited the results and were ecstatic to be presented with the first prize!  

National Champions of Nxplorers 2019

At this juncture, we would like to express our gratitude to our parents, teachers and friends for their encouragement and support! We are also very thankful for the opportunity from Shell and the Science Centre Singapore and can't wait for our study trip to Seoul! 

Stay tuned for more updates on our trip! :D