Global Youth Science and Technology Bowl (GYSTB) 2021 Finals

The Global Youth Science and Technology Bowl (GYSTB 2021), organised by the Creative Education Unit of The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups (HKFYG), held its Finals and Award Ceremony on Facebook live this past weekend. There were 106 shortlisted local and overseas teams of high school students, who showcased their amazingly innovative ideas and scientific findings to solve everyday problems. Six Hong Kong teams made it to the Finals, of which two took home gold prizes in their respective categories.

Hong Kong’s Victoria Shanghai Academy were joint winners of the Gold Prize in the Biology and Chemistry category with their  “Sustainable Plastic via Clam Shells” . What the team discovered, were methods by which to turn clamshells into a chitosan polymer, which is a biodegradable plastic that can go a long way to solve environmental pollution. The other co-winner was a team from Singapore Hwa Chong Institution with their project “Fabrication of Eco-friendly Cellulose – Reduced Graphene Oxide Hybrid Aerogel from Various Fruit Wastes for Water Purification”. The students made environmentally friendly fibers, using orange peels, to purify water to deal with seawater pollution.

Another Hong Kong team, from Christian Alliance S W Chan Memorial College, won Gold Prize in the Physical and Engineering category with “C.A.R.D. – Augmented Reality Game for Identifying Early-age School Kids with Dyslexia”. This is a game application to identify early-stage dyslexia. Another Gold Prize winner, Samyak Shrimali, from the United States, won his “Sanjeevani: A Novel Automated System for Hospital Acquired Infection Monitoring and Prevention”, which ensures that hand hygiene of hospital staff meets the WHO requirements and thus reduces the risk of disease transmission in hospitals.

The GYSTB 2021 attracted 145 teams from 26 countries and regions, including the United States, Russia, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, South Korea and Singapore. Each team was comprised of not more than five students who are in Forms 1 to 6 (or equivalent). The teams could either investigate a science topic related to daily life, or create innovative and practical inventions which could solve common problems. The 106 shortlisted teams presented their inventions or investigation projects to professional panels formed by academic representatives during the Competition.

Mr Kenneth LEE Kin-lok, The HKFYG Supervisor (Innovation and Creativity) said he was very impressed by students’ ability this year. “It is really quite amazing how creative and innovative these students are. They were so sharp in identifying problems and then in finding solutions. I think what impressed me most of all was their dedication and focus, in spite of all their trials and errors. They never gave up!” He encouraged the students to continue to work hard on their scientific research journey, learn and exchange through the competitions, sharpening their skills of collaboration and problem-solving. “These students really are the future; and what better responsibility do we have than to encourage their abilities now,” said Mr Lee.

The GYSTB 2021 is organised by the Creative Education Unit of the HKFYG. The Competition is a showcase of global youth scientific achievement and innovation. The event aims to promote science and technology; offers a platform for youth to develop their creativity and scientific mindsets; while also to facilitating the exchange of ideas, interests and abilities among young scientists from around the world.

An online voting campaign of “Visitors’ Favorite Award” will start from now until 4 July 2021. The public are invited to join and vote for their favourite project base on their performance. Please visit https://ce.hkfyg.org.hk/gystb/ for more information about the voting details, the winners and their projects.

Global Youth Science and Technology Bowl 2021 Results

Biology and Chemistry Category

Physics an Engineering Category