In another dimension: Kaye Wen Yoong, 12, experiencing the VR simulation of the ISS under the guidance of Kim (right). – ART CHEN/The Star.
MALAYSIAN students may soon be able to launch their science experiments to the International Space Station (ISS), if a pilot project takes off.
“This is the first time we’re introducing it to Malaysian schools.
“We have a lot of meetings set up, including with government officials, to see if we can get it into the national school system here,” United-States-based nonprofit organisation Quest 4 Excellence chief executive officer Danny Kim said.
Working in partnership with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa), Kim said participating students as young as preschoolers to high school students can upload an experiment to the ISS and get the results back, even seeing images of how their program is controlling a robot in space within 24 hours.
“We can do eight million experiments a year. We’ve been doing this around the world, and have launched 200 or more unique experiments to the ISS,” he added.
Kim, who has been working with children to conduct experiments in space and also in the ocean, firmly believes in opening up opportunities for students to invigorate learning and develop their interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
“Space and the ocean are where every kid would think are impossible to reach.
“When we get in front of kids and show them that something they thought was impossible is now possible, their whole demeanour towards education changes.
“They get inquisitive, and want to learn more and explore other things. It increases their desire to do STEM,” he said.
“A lot of times, kids don’t go into STEM not because they are unable to, but because they haven’t been exposed to it. Sometimes they’re not exposed to it because they’re too scared.
“The goal is to create a foundation element here so we can help the kids with this inspirational type of learning,” he added.
Kim also said this is the first time his team, who is working with nonprofit organisation Global Leadership Network Malaysia to initiate the space programme here, is targeting a younger age group in an Asian country.
“We found that the younger the children start, the more they are open to STEM.
“We want to choose kids from all aspects, not just the smartest or most privileged.
“When we do this all around the world, we target underserved and underrepresented communities,” he said.
“There are opportunities that students, especially girls and kids in underserved communities, were never told they could have. They’re just told, ‘You’re not able to do this, you’re not smart enough, you don’t have the opportunity.’ When they get the opportunity, their whole demeanour towards learning and STEM changes,” he added.
On July 11, Kim carried out an exclusive space workshop as a preview of the space programme with some 20 primary and secondary students in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Each participant was able to upload their photos and prompts into space through a robot resembling a cartoon network character called BMO.
“Being able to control BMO is so cool! The fact that I get to decide what my experiment does in space is so surreal. Everything that happens within space is so intriguing to me because it enhances my imagination,” said Siti Aisyah Dalilur Rahman, 17.
Echoing her sentiments, Andrew Ung Wei En said he was thrilled to be a part of the workshop.
“I never thought I would be able to have an experiment of my own uploaded to space. Tech has indeed made education and learning a lot easier,” said the 14-year-old.
Apart from the hands-on activity, the participants were given the opportunity to immerse themselves in virtual reality, observing the atmosphere outside the ISS, and also to remotely control robots overseas in real time.
“A part of science is to observe what is going to happen, even if it is obvious. The details of what you see are really important because it might be unique to another experiment that changes everything,” said Kim.
Also a firm believer that every child should learn to code just as they learn how to speak a language, Kim said understanding how coding is done will enable one to know intrinsically how computers work and how technology interoperates.
“That understanding is critical to every career you’re involved in,” he said.
Quest 4 Excellence provides educational programmes that allow students to create science experiments that run on board the ISS and to run an underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) one mile beneath the ocean’s surface.
Besides empowering students and school administrators through the programmes, Kim has been leading high school students in the global XPRIZE competitions over the years, with his students picking up the US$1mil (RM4.61mil) bonus prize in the Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE in 2019.
He hopes to start a space conference in Malaysia to “invite everyone to understand that space is not just for space”.
“It’s pervasive because what you do in the space industry includes engineering, manufacturing, programming, and project management,” he said.
On May 16, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said he had tasked the Education Ministry with setting up a task force to propose ways to stimulate children’s interest in science and technology-related subjects.
He added that a recent study had found that the interest of children, especially in rural areas as well as the urban poor, in such subjects had deteriorated.
Speaking at the launch of the 2023 National Teachers Day celebration in Melaka, Anwar, who is also the country’s former education minister, described the trend as a challenge for the country as Malaysia moves towards green technology and electric vehicles.
Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek, in a Facebook post on July 5, said she had met with the Group of 70 Malay professors (G70), to discuss STEM education.“Among the inputs focused on is the importance of increasing students’ interest in Science and Mathematics education and learning,” she wrote.
