“Look, it’s very smooth, no lagging in movements!” In a corner of the FABLAB Innovation and Science Education Centre at Pui Ching Middle School Macau, a group of students is debuting an underwater robot. They carefully place the robot into a water tank and nervously observe its operation. Whenever the robot successfully completes an action, they excitedly cheer and celebrate by high-fiving each other.
On the other side, a student tightly holds a pen, swiftly sketching the movement trajectory of a robot on a piece of paper, while another student is mimicking the robot’s obstacle avoidance movements in the air. They are studying how to improve their home service robot, exploring ways to make it smarter and more efficient.
In this innovative and vibrant non-traditional classroom, students are no longer passive recipients of knowledge. Instead, they are proactive scientific explorers and creators. Here, a group of young tech stars is emerging on the international stage and is determined to contribute their own strength to the development of the motherland.
Leong Pok Hei: Aspire to attend Tsinghua University and solve energy challenges
In May this year, Leong Pok Hei won the fourth prize in the “Energy: Sustainable Materials and Design” category at the 2024 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). With this achievement, he also became a recipient of the Honorific Title-Merit from the Macau SAR government this year.
Leong’s project for the competition was “One-Step Synthesis of Amorphous ZnP2 Composite Anode Promoting Fast-Charging Performance in Li-Ion Batteries.” In this project, he innovatively used high-energy ball milling to effectively convert ZnP2 into an amorphous state. Compared to traditional synthesis methods, this new approach is simpler and more efficient, while also reducing environmental impact. Additionally, the amorphous material synthesized through this research method exhibits excellent chemical performance, reaching one of the highest levels known currently.
“This competition can be described as the Olympics of scientific research. I feel very honored to stand on such an international stage. The Honorific Title-Merit is the recognition of my entire middle school career’s scientific research.” Leong reminisced about his feelings upon receiving these awards.
Leong is deeply grateful for the scientific research resources and educational opportunities provided to Macau students by the central government. “As Macau integrates itself into the overall development of the motherland, we have the opportunity to integrate and develop with the mainland’s well-developed industries or emerging industries. Now it’s unlike 25 years ago, when opportunities were very limited,” he added, noting that job opportunities for young people have also increased significantly. “Nowadays, no matter which major you choose, you can carve out your own niche.”
As a high-school senior, Leong aspires to attend Tsinghua University, and the main reason mainland universities attract him is their close integration with the industrial sector. “The teaching mode in the mainland not only focuses on the breadth of knowledge but also emphasizes depth, covering almost the most basic and core knowledge required for future jobs,” said Leong.
Talking about the future, Leong has ambitious aspirations: “Energy issues are one of the major challenges facing the world today. The world today needs high-capacity, low-cost, sustainable, and environmentally friendly energy sources. I hope to devote myself to researching and developing such energy sources, making a small contribution to our motherland and the world.”
Xu Ziheng: GBA can realize technological commercialization dreams
Xu Ziheng’s scientific dreams began in his fifth-grade year of primary school. At that time, he was full of curiosity about the world and often pondered how to use technology to improve people’s lives. He remembers that Macau frequently suffered from typhoons, which caused power outages and brought many inconveniences to people’s life. Therefore, he came up with an idea: to create a smart streetlight that could provide power for mobile phones and electronic devices during typhoons.
Since then, Xu has actively participated in various scientific competitions. This year, Xu won the fourth prize in the “Robots and Intelligent Machines” category at the ISEF with his innovative project, a microTrojan robot for digestive tract treatment, and also received Macau’s 2024 Honorific Title-Merit.
The inspiration for this project came from his grandmother, who suffers from heart disease and other illnesses and needs to take a large number of medications regularly. However, these medications also cause severe side effects such as loss of appetite, vomiting, and hair loss. “So I started thinking about whether it is possible to use micro robots to solve this problem, reducing the side effects of medications while decreasing their intake and improving their utilization rate,” Xu said.
Xu has conducted in-depth research on existing micro robot technologies on the market and found that they were susceptible to environmental factors, leading to unsatisfactory medication effects. To solve this problem, he adopted a double-layer structural design, protecting the robot during operation and enabling it to accurately release medications upon the lesion site and complete targeted therapy.
Regarding his future development, Xu is full of anticipation and confidence. “I hope to attend top universities at home and abroad for further studies and, through my own efforts and innovation, promote the application of technologies such as micro robots to a wider range of medical fields, making greater contributions to human health.”
Xu emphasized that the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) provides endless opportunities for the career development of Macao youth. He believes that this region encompasses multiple cities with unique advantages and industrial characteristics, providing abundant resources and platforms for innovative projects by young students. “If we have relevant ideas for technological innovation and want to materialize our works or ideas, such as actually creating physical prototypes or products, it can all be achieved here.”
– Courtesy of GD Today
