Think Big-Youth Science Ambassador Programme

In October/November 2020, a team of 5 of our students took part in the “Think Big - Youth Science Ambassador Programme” organised by Science Centre Singapore in collaboration with Amazon Web Services and Temasek Foundation. The programme aimed to enhance students’ interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), as well as develop the skills to communicate science concepts effectively.   Under the programme, students are expected to design and develop a prototype that addresses one or more existing challenges faced by an identified beneficiary.  The programme would culminate in a virtual showcase where students will pitch their project ideas to a panel of judges from Science Centre Singapore, Amazon Web Services and Temasek Foundation.

Our North Stars comprising Wong Jun Han, Ooi Jun Jia, Pham Yi Xin Chezanne, Muhammad Taha Firdaus Bin Askarali Ahammed Thagavi, and Fei Weijie, Gavin (all from 2E1 2020) worked on a prototype to simplify the process of students in APSN Katong School (a special needs school) under the MOE Financial Assistance Scheme to order their food and drinks from the canteen vendors.  A total of 18 teams from various schools took part in the programme. Teams that successfully completed the programme were awarded a Silver Badge by Questa Club and our students have all received a silver badge each. Out of over 90 participants, 10 students were identified for their outstanding performances during the programme and were presented with the Amazon Future Engineer Bursary Award.  Our student, Taha Firdaus, was one of the awardees.

As part of the programme, our students attended workshops and masterclasses on Design Thinking, Scientific Communication, Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality (AR/VR), Mobile Applications making, and User Experience & User Interface (UX & UI).

To prepare for their project, our students had a virtual tour and zoom interview with the staff at APSN Katong School to understand their challenges so as to meet their students’ needs. At present, the canteen vendors in APSN Katong School receive the food orders verbally from the students, check whether they are under the FAS scheme, prepare the orders and stamp a booklet for FAS students or collect cash from non-FAS students. The canteen vendors find this process cumbersome. Our students scoped their project to achieve two objectives:

1. Create an easy and discreet method for the canteen vendors to identify the FAS students
2. Create a fun and interactive experience for the students while they queue to place their orders  

With these objectives in mind, the idea of the QQ strap was conceived. Our students then consulted their mentor, Mr Tan Jyh Harng, from Science Centre, to further develop and refine their project idea.  The QQ strap is a wristband with a unique Quick Response (QR) code reveals relevant information of the student when scanned.  It digitalises the food ordering and FAS booklet stamping processes thus reducing the workload of the canteen vendors.  A fidget spinner affixed on the strap also allows students to occupy their time as they play with the spinner whilst queueing up at the canteen stall.