by Reisha Claffel Ferraren
The Enthusiastic Inventors and Sci-Tech Innovators (EINSTEIN) Club of PSHS – Central Visayas Campus has been adjudged as the “Most Outstanding Science Club of 2015” of the Philippine Society of Youth Science Clubs (PSYSC) during the SEARCH Convention and Awarding Ceremony held at UP – Diliman, Quezon City last March 12, 2016.
SAGIP KAPALIGIRAN INITIATIVE
The winning project of EINSTEIN Club was entitled, “Sagip Kapaligiran Initiative: An Artificial Nesting Project and the Construction of Eco-Friendly Innovative Technologies”. It was composed of a nesting project that aimed to monitor, preserve, and protect the birds within the school’s vicinity and innovations that are eco-friendly, renewable, and locally available.
There were three innovations presented. One is a fabricated soundproof board made from coconut fibers and was entitled “Sound Absorber for Noise Control Using Coconut Coir Mixed with Sodium Silicate.” Another innovation named, “Human Locomotion VIBRA-E Harvester Prototype for Powering Light Emitting Diode” was a vibrational energy harvester that utilized piezoelectric materials. Lastly, the club addressed the issue on air pollution with the innovation entitled, “Coconut Spathe Fiber-based Media as Biofilter for Air Pollution.”
The aforementioned innovations were evaluated in contests and exhibits. The VIBRA-E Harvester Prototype was awarded a silver medal and two other special recognitions during the Asian Young Inventors Exhibit (AYIE) 2015 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It also won First Prize under the SIBOL Award – High School Category in the 2015 Regional Invention Contests and Exhibits (RICE). On the other hand, the sound absorber innovation won a silver medal in the Kuala Lumpur Engineering and Science Fair last October 2015. All three innovations were exhibited in the National Science and Technology Week Exhibit last July 2015 held at the SMX Convention Center, Pasay City.
THE FOURTH ANNUAL SEARCH FOR MOST OUTSTANDING SCIENCE CLUB
PSYSC brought back one of its most prestigious national events – the Fourth Annual SEARCH for Most Outstanding Science Club. This event was initiated in order to recognize the nation’s best science club which will be able to deliver the grandest and most innovative idea for the purpose of making a socially relevant solution to address today’s problems. Its criteria included the major project, STE activities conducted, multi-sectoral support, presentation, and public recognition.
The awards for the Fourth Annual SEARCH for the Most Outstanding Science Club were presented in two brackets: Elementary and Secondary. The registration started on October 2015. Since then, the clubs were screened and eliminated in order to have the Top 5 finalists for each bracket.
The culminating event of the Fourth Annual SEARCH was the SEARCH Convention (SCov), a one-day leadership and training seminar for students and teachers. It was where the finalists presented their major projects and received certificates, trophies, and consolation prizes. For each bracket, the science club with the highest total score was declared as the “Most Outstanding Science Club of 2015” and was given PhP 50,000.00.
