KUCHING: Learning disabilities did little to deter eight Sarawakian students from representing Malaysia in the Fifth International One Belt One Road Science and Technology competition.
The participants, aged eight to 18, came from the Stapok Enrichment Centre, Kuching and Star Hub Academy, Bintulu.yewsd
They were given one day to build a Space Maker Radiosonde and to their credit, they managed to build one in just four hours.
“To compete in this competition, the students need to have high order thinking skills and cooperation among their group members,” said Stapok Enrichment Centre Kuching principal Audrey Kho at the event held at Waterfront Kuching on Sunday (Nov 14).
“I am proud to say that the participants here managed to overcome this challenge and placed themselves in competition against 90 other countries.”
According to Kho the radiosonde would be fired to an altitude of 20 km.
“Once the radiosonde reaches above 20km, the balloon will burst in the air and will parachute the capsule down.
“After that, the participants will conduct a search through the Global Positioning System (GPS) and send the video to China.
“To make this competition exciting, there will be a treasure hunt for the community to find the capsule. Those who find it will be awarded a pair of Puma shoes,” she added.
Kho hoped some of the participants would be selected for student exchange programmes in China to enable them to study space-related sciences with scientists in China.
Meanwhile, team leader Nathaniel Min Shan Reducto, 18, admitted that there were challenges along the way.
“As the group leader, I did not find it easy to work with my team members as we are strangers. In addition, having 8-18 year-old participants in my team was challenging as each of us had different views.
“Nonetheless, with the cooperation and commitment we gave to the competition, I can confidently say that we did our best,” he said.
He hoped to win the competition and predicted that the capsule launched would be rediscovered at the Bau or Lundu area.
The team members getting ready with the Radiosonde. Photo: Ramidi Subari 
The team members getting ready with the Radiosonde. Photo: Ramidi Subari 
The completed Radiosonde. Photo: Ramidi Subari 
The Radiosonde up in the sky. Photo: Ramidi Subari
