Set to impress: Aeshwarya all smiles as she strikes a pose by her booth at the event.
Twelve-year-old combines love for sports and science to help ease wounds and muscle aches
GETTING wounds and muscle aches from active participation in sports may be a downer, but it inspired Aeshwarya Sivakumar to invent a balm to help with wound recovery and muscle relief.
The 12-year-old tennis and netball player said whenever the need arose, her mum would apply castor oil on her.
“I didn’t really like the texture of the oil, but I knew it had a lot of healing benefits.
“So I thought of creating a product with castor oil (derived from the Ricinus communis plant) along with other natural ingredients to form a balm texture,” she told StarEdu.
That inspiration bore fruit recently when the SJK(T) Ladang Highlands, Selangor, pupil was named champion in the Physical Presentation (Primary School) category at the SciFusion: Festival Inovasi dan STEM Kebangsaan 2025.
She was awarded a cash prize of RM150 for her outstanding presentation of her invention, “Ricinus Healing Stick”.
Held at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia on April 26, the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) competition drew around 200 primary and secondary school students from across the country to showcase their creativity through various projects.
“I felt both surprised and shocked,” Aeshwarya recalled upon hearing the results.
Behind that winning moment is a deep-rooted passion for science – one that started at home.
“When I was young, my dad often used to tell me stories and facts about astronomy, science, and many more. Seeing this, my mum encouraged me to attend science courses – and that’s where my passion for science really grew,” she said.
Like most worthwhile endeavours, the journey to creating the “perfect” consistency for the balm was not smooth for Aeshwarya.
“During my first try, the mixture was a bit too oily and just wasn’t the texture I was aiming for.
“On the second try, I added way too much beeswax and it hardened the mixture, causing it to break every time I used it. However, after many failed attempts, I finally found the right mixture and perfect consistency,” she shared.
Looking ahead, Aeshwarya plans to send her healing balm for lab testing in hopes of improving it further with sustainable solutions before market distribution.
Apart from her passion for science and sports, she is interested in visual art, music and public speaking.
The key to managing it all, she said, is keeping her days organised.
To other pupils who want to explore science, Aeshwarya – who has won several awards at science and innovation competitions – had this to say: “It may be hard at first, but when you get the hang of it and work hard enough, it will be easy as a breeze.”
