Science Castle participants from 3 different countries exploring Singapore together!
On 20th November 2017, the second day of SCIENCE CASTLE in SINGAPORE, students were taken on an educational tour of Singapore. Our first stop was the Singapore Science Centre, where students had a chance to view all the exhibits and forge new friendships with each other through a free and easy tour. They realised how fun science could be through interactive installations, before the second half of the day, whereby they had the opportunity to learn what a future journey in science and technology could look like.
We headed to NUS UTown for lunch, where they got to explore the campus green and have lunch amongst NUS university students and staff. This gave them a small insight into the next stage of their education. Some students also had the opportunity to attend a career talk by assistant Assist. Prof. Matsuo. In his career talk, he provided us with information about his research journey and shared the importance of developing a scientific mindset for this career path. It seemed that his passionate words influenced a lot of students.
We then split into 2 groups to visit Fusionworld (A*STAR Singapore) and Wah Son Engineering. The aim of these visits was to expose the students to potential career paths they may lead, or things they could create with their science and technology background.
At Fusionworld, we had an experience of not only understanding what the cutting edge science and technology of A*STAR is but also how it will be implemented into the society. In detail, we had a look at several innovative technologies such as very thin light which is manufactured by printed electronics technique, IoT technique of sophisticated car navigation system, as well as ADHD therapy device by measuring one’s brain wave and the functional laser pointer. Through exposure to these innovations, we could imagine a future when these technologies are fully implemented into society! It was also a good driving force for students to think about implementing their own research and technological inventions into society.
At Wah Son Engineering, Ms Hee Joo shared with students how she developed this niche area in Singapore to create specialized parts at her factory. To provide a conducive environment for employees, they also have a small garden with local vegetables in the back, and rearrange their seats every now and then to facilitate discussion and interaction.
Both students and teachers provided very positive feedback on their experiences after the tour, and we look forward to continuing to work with schools in Asia to allow more cohesion amongst the various stakeholders and enhance learning opportunities!
(This article was co-written by Hiroyuki Doi and Renu Chandra)