Calling young thinkers
The Google Science Fair is your chance to make a big impact on the world.
LAST year’s winning entry at the Google Science Fair was made on the premise of finding an environment-friendly alternative to the non-renewable, rust-prone problem of steel manhole covers.
In showing how these covers may be replaced with jute-reinforced polyester, however, 16-year-olds Lutfir Rahman Mohd Izani and Faiq Hazim from MRSM Kota Putra in Terengganu also came up with a deterrent to metal thieves who leave hundreds of road users irate about having to manoeuvre around open manholes because the covers were stolen.
The students won the inaugural Google Science Fair Malaysia award last year, and now the platform which gave them their chance to shine is back and issuing a fresh call to arms.
Google wants the world’s brightest 13- to 18-year-olds to come up with the most interesting questions, with tempting prizes for those that figure out how to solve them.
The Google Science Fair is an annual competition with prizes sponsored by scientific heavyweights.
What young Brainiac wouldn’t want to put him/herself to the test with US$100,000 (RM362,000) in scholarships and classroom grants from Scientific American and Google; a chance to participate in a National Geographic expedition to the Galapagos; an opportunity to visit LEGO designers in Denmark; or the possibility of touring Virgin Galactic’s new spaceship at the Mojave Air and Spaceport? These are the latest prizes up for grabs.
“Science is about observing and experimenting. It’s about exploring unanswered questions. Big ideas that have the potential to make a big impact often start from something small,” Google Malaysia communications and public affairs manager Zeffri
2014 winners: Yusof says in a press release.
Previous winners have seen young minds tackling world problems. A young trio of Irish schoolgirls bagged the grand prize last year for their project on diazotrophic bacteria as a cereal crop germinator and growth aid to combat global food poverty.
Other innovations included fruit fly-inspired robots, bioreactor-based filters to clean up oil sands waste, and even a way of converting breath to speech for the disabled – all remarkably proposed by youths between the ages of 14 and 17.
A total of 90 winners will be selected from around the world, 15 of whom will make it to the global finals and flown to Google headquarters in Mountain View, California to present their projects in front of a panel of judges.
This year will also feature a special award to recognise an Inspiring educator, as well as a Community Impact Award honouring a project that addresses environmental or health challenges.
Interested? Visit http://www. googlesciencefair.com to learn more and put those grey cells in overdrive. Deadline for entries is May 18.