Techie Monkey from SMK Bintulu emerged state winner of Shell’s Sarawak #MyGeek-a-thon at SCAT fair 2019

Kuching – ‘Techie Monkey’ from SMK Bintulu emerged state champion of Shell’s #MyGeekMovement in a competition known as the Sarawak #MyGeek-a-thon by showcasing their ‘Sustainable Living Systems’ inventions. The competition was held at Sarawak Career and Training (SCaT) Fair 2019. ‘Static’ from SMK Lutong came in second in this competition. The winners received their awards from Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg, Chief Minister of Sarawak.

Both these schools will represent Sarawak at the national #MyGeek-a-thon competition which will take place at Make The Future Live Malaysia 2019 at Sepang International Circuit, Kuala Lumpur on the 1st of May 2019.

Shell Malaysia selected five schools from Sarawak to compete in its STEM initiative as part of its drive to promote Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) amongst secondary school students in Malaysia. This year’s participating schools were SMK Bintulu and SMK Kidurong of Bintulu; SMK Merbau and SMK Lutong of Miri; and SMK St. Joseph of Kuching.

‘Techie Monkey’ which comprises Darren Lee Hua Ee, Isaac Yong Wei Onn and Wendy Lim Yii Ann created an app through their project, iRecycle that encourages users to recycle by making the process simple and rewarding. The app enables users to connect with recycling centres to arrange for pick-up while earning points.

“We are very happy, but we also believe that we need to further improve and innovate our invention based on the feedback given by the judges to prepare ourselves for the national championship. We believe our win today is because of our teamwork. No matter how good an invention or idea, if there is no co-operation and effort between team members, then it would not end in success, “shared the ‘Techie Monkey’ teammates who stood tall together when asked about being the state champion.

The first runner up, Static from SMK Lutong is an all-girls team comprising Anisha Praveen Karunakaran, Daphne Binti Douglas and Liew Jia Wen. Their invention, Fridget is an automated fan cleaning system that is programmed to clean dust on condenser coils at the back of refrigerators to reduce energy consumption of household fridges.

“Science and engineering is at the heart of our business and is critical to economic and social progress. Our aim is to contribute to the number of STEM graduates who will go on to lead discoveries in STEM on a global level. We are focused in influencing school students to take an early interest in fields of engineering, information technology and automation. This will help uplift the number of STEM graduates, which will help meet national targets and aspirations,” shared Jill Chieng, General Manager of Sarawak Shell Berhad.

In August 2017, Shell Malaysia introduced its STEM immersion programme called the #MyGeekMovement. With the support of the Ministry of Education, #MyGeekMovement selected about 225 secondary one students from fifteen schools across Malaysia. These students were given the opportunity to gain hands-on STEM learning, with a focus on technology.

In Sarawak, 75 students were selected, while peer to peer coaching was also implemented to share the knowledge with the larger student community of about 10,000 students from all participating schools in Sarawak.

#MyGeekMovement provides learning content that complements the existing school co-curricular structure with a long-term goal to increase the number of students opting for science stream, while boosting interest in science and technology amongst the younger generation. Students are able to continue to grow their technological, critical, creative and innovative skill sets while challenging themselves to design and innovate solutions to real-world problems.

“Through our STEM-related programmes, we aim to spark an interest in students to pursue STEM related subjects and develop them to become future engineers and innovators who will contribute to the future pipeline of talents and capabilities,” she shared.

Besides the Sarawak #MyGeek-a-thon Championship, Shell Malaysia’s presence in SCaT Fair 2019 was seen through the showcase of its operations in the Upstream, Downstream and Integrated Gas spheres. There was also a showcase on the company’s strategic social investment flagship programmes and its recruitment arm.

These displays clearly demonstrate Shell’s drive to help build capacity in Sarawak and give back to the community, through its global and local knowledge, innovation and experience as an industry leader.

For further information on Shell’s #MyGeekMovement, log on to www.shell.com.my

Note to Editor:

Judges for the Sarawak #MyGeek-a-thon finals; 

Wong Chong Kung – Director, STEM, MESTR

Dr Chew Yen Seng– Principal Consultant, Chumbaka Sdn Bhd

Alex Pega Mahda – Senior Territory Manager, Shell Malaysia Trading

For further Media Enquiries, please contact: 
Prema Jayabalan 
Senior Manager, Media Relations and Issue Management, Shell Malaysia
Email: prema.jayabalan@shell.com
 

About Shell – www.shell.com.my

^{Shell is a global leader in power, energy, and gas technology and is working to meet increasing energy demand and supply challenges by delivering smarter products and cleaner energy, infrastructure, and by developing new energy sources while addressing the impact on the environment. Malaysia is one of Shell’s heartlands. The history of Royal Dutch Shell in Malaysia started more than 125 years ago in Miri, Sarawak. Shell currently has a strong market presence in the upstream and downstream sector in Malaysia.}