2021 National Science Challenge Semi Final Closing Ceremony

The Closing Ceremony and Announcement of the Semi Finalists for the 2021 National Science Challenge was held on 25 September 2021.

The event was attended by several guests of honour. They are:

• YBhg Professor Dr Noor Saadah Abd Rahman and YBhg Professor ChM Dr Basyaruddin Abdul Rahman: Co-Chairpersons National Science Challenge (NSC) Steering Committee
• Dr Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed Tahir: Chairperson, 2021 NSC Organising Committee
• Associate Prof Dr Tan Yee Shin and Associate Prof Dr Yap Wing Fen: Co-Chairs, 2021 NSC Organising Committee
• Associate Prof Dr Hanafiah Yusoff: Board of Director and Group Chief Executive Officer of Robopreneur Sdn Bhd & UiTM Associate Professor

The 2021 NSC is organised in collaboration with strategic partners such as the Ministry of Education Malaysia, Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA), Collaborative Research in Engineering, Science and Technology Centre, or CREST for short, and the Malaysian Society for Microbiology. The excellent Young Scientists Network-ASM was on board to strategise the concept and content of NSC, while Sasbadi Online Sdn Bhd acted as the technology partner.

Throughout the month of September, the students have been busy working on their projects based on the four given tracks: Public Health; Environment; Agriculture; and Climate Change. The weekends were punctuated with virtual workshops, where the Semi Finalists have been tested on innovativeness and communication skills.

With the guidance from their mentor teachers and the tutors assigned to them, the semi-finalists must continuously harness their STEM knowledge to provide novel and innovative solutions to solve their given challenge.

The top five teams will be selected to compete at the Grand Finale on 9 October, vying for the bragging rights as the Winner of 2021 NSC, the Prime Minister’s Challenge Trophy, plus winning exciting prizes.

While the audience awaits the results from the esteemed panel of judges, Dr Hanafiah Yusoff presented a talk on Robotics. Dr Hanafiah is an Associate Professor at Universiti Teknologi MARA. He is also the Founder, Board of Director and Group Chief Executive Officer of Robopreneur Sdn Bhd.

With more than 18 years of experience in robotics R&D and business, he has been described as an esteemed academician, innovator, entrepreneur, and overall game changer. His success in the field has led him to be regarded as a prominent figure in the campaign to achieve corporate-wide adoption of robotics technology in all business.

Following Dr Hanafiah’s presentation, the long-awaited result is finally on hand. Associate Professor Dr Tan Yee Shin presented the top five teams that have qualified to the Grand Final Level as well as honourable mentions by the judges. The five honourable mention teams (in no order) are:

• SMK Rancha-Rancha
• SMK Khir Johari
• SMK Penang Free
• MRSM Pengkalan Chepa
• SMK Sultan Ismail

The judges have been highly impressed by their presentation on the solutions based on their respective tracks.

Finally, the top five teams (in no order) that will be competing at the Grand Final on 9 October 2021 are:

• Sekolah Menengah Sri KDU
• Kolej Yayasan Saad
• SMK Sam Tet
• SMJK Jit Sin
• MRSM Kota Putra