Doing the nation proud: The team shared their joy with other Malaysian participants and juries after their Iena victory in Germany. — Picture courtesy of Mohd Ridzuan Mohammad
KUALA LUMPUR: A group of students from SMK Agama Kuala Selangor defeated 490 teams from 250 schools around the globe in a competition to mark the International Trade Fair, Ideas, Inventions and New Products (Iena) 2022 event in Nuremberg, Germany.
The Malaysian team won gold and the Special Award for the Best Overall Innovation Product for the Young Inventors Category “Prize of the City of Nuremberg” in the three-day competition, which ended on Saturday.
The winning team comprised Athirah Ahmad Hisshamuddin, 17, and Raja Dhia Nazneen Insyirah Raja Mohd Aman Shah, Nur Damia Bisyara Muhammad Imran and Sarah Ardinie Khairul Faizi, all 16.
Under the guidance of teachers Mohd Ridzuan Mohammad and Mohd Zulhelmi Mansor, the team repeated the success of their seniors who had won gold and the best innovation product award at the Iena 2019 event.
Iena is the world’s longest-established innovation exhibition of more than 70 years that showcases the world’s biggest new inventions and innovations.
Zulhelmi said the team’s featured innovation, the Educational Card Set (ECS) World History Exploration Challenge, was designed to attract the interest of mainly teenagers to master general knowledge related to world civilisation history.
He said the idea for the ECS was inspired by the Monopoly board game and highlighted interesting heritage sites of world civilisation.
“The concept of taking photographs and recording interesting events are highlighted in the boardgame to allow two-way interaction and encourages discussion among students playing the ECS,” he added.
He hoped the ECS would be used in co-academic contests among schools and made available to families for leisure activity besides creating a “global citizenship” generation.In a Facebook post, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob congratulated the students and hoped their achievement would inspire other students. — Bernama
