The Science Mentorship Programme ( SMP ) organised by MOE Gifted Education ( GE ) branch consists mainly of the project research in collaboration with external mentors from various tertiary institutes such as A * star and National University of Singapore ( NUS ). There will then be a judging process and finally the Youth Science Conference ( a showcase exhibition of the project posters done by all the participating groups ).

The teachers involved this year are Mrs Michelle Toh , Ms Grace Huang together with Ms Tan Siahui and Mr Phang Wei Lian who oversaw the running of the projects according to the guidelines of MOE GE branch .

Students juggled intensive research with their own school work . Nonetheless all the groups saw their projects to completion , some without much help from their external mentors in a very commendable self-directed style . Out of the 4 groups , 2 emerged with Credit , 1 with Merit and 1 with Distinction .

“ We are what we repeatedly do . Excellence , then , is not an act , but a habit .”

Aristotle

Singapore Science & Engineering Fair The Singapore Science & Engineering Fair ( SSEF ) is a national competition organised by the Ministry of Education ( MOE ), the Agency for Science , Technology & Research ( A * STAR ) and the Science Centre Singapore ( SCS ). The SSEF is affiliated to the prestigious Intel International Science and Engineering Fair ( Intel ISEF ), which is regarded as the Olympics of science competitions .

Three groups of students represented SJI in this prestigious competition . Group 1 comprising both Kevin Chee and Kannan Ramanathan from 431 attained the Bronze Award for their electrochemistry project which taught them lessons beyond the

textbooks , use of scientific equipment and life skills .

Daryl Tew and Tan Yi Hao both from 431 formed Group 2 . They worked on presenting their research project , Fe2O3 as an alternative anode for Lithium Ion Batteries . This was a natural progression from the Science Mentorship Programme ( SMP ) they had participated in in the previous year .

Group 3 consisted of boys from 431 : Teo Jian Ming , Ng Chong Zheng and Dadi Santosh Amoghraj . Their project titled ‘ Thermoelectric Cooling System for Sportswear ’ revolved around developing a prototype solid-state cooling vest using thermoelectric coolers for use by athletes . Their hard work of having to combine design as well as planning earned them a spot as one of the finalists in the competition .

1 Screen Saver Inventors - From left : Richard Lee ( 204 ), Tan Szi Ken ( 206 ), Elliot Chow ( 206 ) 2 SMP - hard at work 3 Preparing for the SMP presentation 4 The team who invented the Cleaning Mate - From left : Shanmugam Surya ( 207 ), Matthew Mok ( 207 ), Wilbert Johan ( 207 )

5 SMP project

Josephian Annual - 2012 | Page 28

The Science Mentorship Programme