YOUNG SCIENCE WARRIORS SHINE AT CCM STEM UP CHALLENGE 2018
The CCM STEM UP Challenge 2018 was organised by Chemical Company of Malaysia Berhad (CCMB) in partnership with the Academy of Sciences Malaysia. It was open to Form Four and Form Five students from the science stream or their schools’ science club in Batu Pahat District.
Held from April 2 to 24, 2018, the CCM STEM UP Challenge 2018 was divided into two phases. The first phase was held from April 2 to 3, 2018 in conjunction with the National Science Week 2018 organised by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation of Malaysia (Mosti). It served as a preliminary round and consisted of an individual multiple choice questions (MCQ) quiz. During the preliminary round, 50 science students from 31 schools in Batu Pahat District participated in the MCQ quiz whereby students had to answer 40 questions developed by the Academy of Sciences Malaysia within an hour.
The second phase entailed the semi-final round and the grand finale, both held on April 24, 2018 in conjunction with the Minggu Saham Amanah Malaysia (MSAM) 2018. During the semi-final round, 30 top scorers from each of the top 25 schools that performed well in the preliminary round underwent three different challenges. Ten students competed in each challenge, namely the group MCQ quiz (100 questions in 45 minutes) which accounted for 50 per cent of the total score, the science project presentation (three-minute presentation and two-minute Q&A session) which represented 30 per cent of the total score, and the ad hoc science project that made up for 20 per cent of the total score, requiring the students to create the highest tower within 30 minutes in a spaghetti tower challenge.
Three students from each of the top six schools then proceeded to the grand finale which comprised a quiz based on the kahoot interactive system. Twenty-five questions were projected on a screen in real time and the students had to answer them in 25 minutes using a tablet. Points were allocated according to speed and accuracy of each answer.
The competition questions were developed in English by a panel of seven judges from the Young Scientist Network, Academy of Sciences Malaysia, led by Head Judge, Associate Professor Dr. Mohd Hafiz Dzarfan Othman from the Advanced Membrane Technology Research Centre, Faculty of Petroleum and Renewable Energy Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). Other judges included Dr. Mohd Bakri Bakar from the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, UTM; Dr. Mohd Firdaus Abdul Wahab from the Faculty of Biosciences and Medical Engineering, UTM; Dr. Juhana Jaafar from the Department of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Faculty of Chemical and Energy Engineering, UTM; Dr. Noralafiza Yunus from the Department of Chemical and Energy Engineering, Faculty of Chemical and Energy Engineering, UTM; Dr. Shahiron Shahidan from the Department of Structural & Material, Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia; and Dr. Yeoh Chert Tsun, R&D Manager of CCMB.
